Losing Chances
by Candycornlol
Summary: The Hunger Games through Gale's eyes.
1. Chapter 1

**Losing Chances **

**Part One: The Journey**

Chapter One 

I wake up before the sun has risen. I need to get up though, I have a family to feed. Ever since my father died four years ago, I've been holding my family together. I have two younger brothers, a sister and a mom, all of them need food, I have to include myself also. It's hard to take care of the five of us, but I'd to anything and everything for my family.

I get out of bed and dress as quietly as I can, I don't want to wake my family. My mother shifts and turns my way.

"Gale." She whispers.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Stay careful, son." My mom says.

"Of course I will." I promise gently.

With that, I leave my small house, walking out into the beautiful spring morning. As I walk to the baker's shop, I wonder what it's like to not live in the Seam. The Seam is the nickname for the poorer part of district 12, it is also where I live.

My country Panem (which was once called North America) is split up into twelve districts. It used to be split up into thirteen, but the thirteenth was demolished after it rebelled against the Capitol. I live in district 12, which is known for mining and probably the smallest and meekest of the districts.

The Capitol, I think with contempt and disgust. The Capitol is a city far away that rules Panem. It is full of people who understand nothing, and people who are brutally violent. The Capitol has life great, the average person's biggest worry is what clothes to wear or what new exotic color they should die their hair. Here in district 12, it's a fight for food and survival.

By the time I reach the baker's shop, the sun has peeked out from behind the horizon. I gently knock on the door. I broad shouldered man answers.

"Hello, Gale." He the baker says warmly. "Are you here to make a trade?"

"Yes." I respond, pulling a dead squirrel from my backpack.

Hunting is my main source of gathering food. It's extremely illegal, hunting is a very punishable infraction, but I do it anyway. It's either hunt and eat or starve and die. Besides, the Peacekeepers in our district buy my kills, not lock me up like they're supposed to. There's a fence that surrounds district 12 for the purpose of keeping us rebels in, but there are many holes and weak spots to crawl through. It's supposed to be charged with electricity, but it rarely ever is. I hunt with Katniss, my best friend since both of our fathers died in the terrible mining accident. Just thinking about Katniss makes my whole body go warm and I feel very exposed.

I turn red and shift my weight nervously for no apparent reason.

The baker goes into his shop and returns with a loaf of bread. The aroma from the bakery wafts into my nose and makes my mouth water. The baker hands me the bread and takes my squirrel. The bread is worth more than my squirrel, but the baker is generous, especially today.

"Thank you." I say with as much meaning as I can emphasize.

"You're welcome, and thank you." The baker says. He pauses a moment before adding. "Good luck."

"Thanks, you too." I say before turning to heading off to hunt.

The baker wished me good luck because it's reaping day. To punish the twelve districts for district thirteen's rebellion, the Capitol devised the Hunger Games. Every year, every kids ages 12-18 in the twelve districts is forced to enter their name into a big ball to be candidates for the Hunger Games. If you're twelve you enter your name once, if you're thirteen you enter it twice and so on. If you're desperate for food, like many people in district twelve, you can sign up for tesserae. Each time you add your name in again, you get a tiny supply of grain and oil to feed one person for a year. You can sign up for tesserae as many times as you want, but they all add up throughout the years. Since I'm eighteen and have been feeding a family of five for seven years, my name will be entered forty two times this year.

Each year, an unlucky boy and girl from every district are randomly chosen from the list of names to participate in the Hunger Games. In the Hunger Games, the twenty four children are forced to fight each other in a complicated arena until one winner remains. The whole cruel event is televised, people in the Capitol find it amusing. Here in district twelve, nobody is laughing.

I head off to the woods, angrily thinking about the Capitol. My growing animosity for the Capitol has to remain somewhat hidden or else I'll be dead. The Capitol doesn't tolerate much, and loves to show it's brutal control to the citizens of Panem. That is the point of the Hunger Games.

I relax more with every step I get closer to the woods. The woods is the only place I can be myself and speak freely. And I get to be with Katniss when I'm in the woods, and I can speak my mind to her. Katniss is two years younger than me and we met after our fathers died. I still long for my dad, the pain never stops. I know he'd want me to care for the family, so I do. Katniss and I formed a bond, being fatherless and having to feed a family, we lean on each other for support and help each other get food.

Finally I reach the huge fence and wriggle my way through a small hole that is my most common way of entry to my hunting area. I walk into the woods and grab some of my well hidden weapons. I have to hide weapons in the woods because it's also illegal to posses them in district twelve. Also, I need them to catch my food and protect myself from predators that lurk outside of district 12. They fence keeps them out of the city, but nothing protects me from harm in the woods.

I continue to hike until I find that spot where I usually meet with Katniss in a valley by the woods. I wait until I hear her footsteps approaching. My face brightens when Katniss comes up.

Katniss has the same dark hair, gray eyes and olive skin that I do. Some people think we're related but we're not. A lot of people from the Seam look that way.

"Hey, Catnip." I say. Catnip isn't her real name, but when I first heard Katniss say her name, it was barely audible and I had thought she said Catnip. The nickname was confirmed after a lynx started following Katniss around in the woods. We had to kill it because it scared off game, but it was pretty amusing.

"Look what I shot." I say, holding up the bread I bought with my arrow stuck in it.

Katniss laughs, I love it when I make her do that. Her laugh loosens something inside of me but I don't know quite what. Katniss hardly ever smiles and laughs outside of the woods, I feel privileged to be able to hear her laugh.

The bread I traded was real bread of good quality, unlike the bread we usually eat. Katniss takes the loaf, removing the arrow and sniffs it. I can even smell the wonderful fragrance from over here.

"Mm, still warm." Katniss says. "What did it cost you?"

"Just a squirrel." I say, Katniss looking astonished. "Think the old man was feeling sentimental this morning, even wished me luck." Normally, bread like this would've cost a lot more than what I traded for it.

"Well, we all feel a little closer today, don't we?" Katniss says, not even bothering to roll her eyes.

It's true. Today is my last reaping, but I'm not at all relieved. After this year, I have to watch my siblings' reapings. Just as, if not more, horrifying than my own.

"Prim left us a cheese." Katniss says. She takes out the cheese. Prim is Katniss's little sister. Prim is small, sweet and owns a goat that produces milk. The cheese looks delicious, softening in the sun.

"Thank you Prim. We'll have a real feast." I say. I start to talk in a Capitol accent, mocking Effie Trinket, the exuberantly upbeat woman who comes every year to read off the names in the reaping. "I almost forgot! Happy Hunger Games!" I take a few berries from a nearby bush. "And may the odds-"

I toss a berry to Katniss. She catches it with her mouth and I let her finish Effie Trinket's catchphrase.

"Be _ever _in your favor!" She says with false enthusiasm.

We joke about it because it's defiance to the Capitol. The objective is to be scared, which we are, but we don't want to give the Capitol what it wants. Also, the Capitol accent is so foreign sounding that it's easy to make fun of.

I pull out a knife and slice the thick, warm bread. It's smell drifts into my nose and my stomach rumbles. I'm used to this hungry feeling.

Since my father died, we didn't get his income from working in the mines anymore. So my mom took up jobs and worked hard, worked for her family. She tires herself past exhaustion because she's devoted to her family. Indefatigable, my mothers does anything she can to keep her children fed. Me, at the age of thirteen, had to start hunting more often, going out into the woods and making illegal trades. It's hard work but now, five years later, we're all still alive. Soon I'll be nineteen and I'll have to work in the mines. I don't want to go to the mines, my father died there and I won't be able to set foot down there without thinking about how much I miss him. I have to work in the mines though, if I want to feed my family, it's my only choice. I'll have to work in that wretched, claustrophobic area twelve hours a day, six days a week. Sunday will be my only day of rest but I'll have to spend it hunting, which I don't mind.

I spread the bread slices with the tempting cheese, gingerly placing a Basil leaf on each slice. Katniss picks blackberries while I do so.

We decide to picnic in a place hidden by rocks, so nobody can see us, but we can easily overlook the beautiful valley. The valley is dense with vegetation, there's so many resources, but we can't gather them all at once. It's a gorgeous day, warm and cloudless with a slight breeze. The food is amazing, the bread warms my mouth and the cheese soaks it slightly. The berries hit my mouth like bombs of flavor. I just wish I could stay here with Katniss and be myself, but I have to go back home for the reaping. In the woods I can either forget about life's troubles, or rant on about them, both of which are common things I do. Then an idea strikes me.

"We could do it, you know." I say.

"What?" Katniss asks.

"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it." I say. I can tell that Katniss thinks that it's quixotic, but the idea spreads rapidly throughout me. Katniss and I can make shelter and find enough food. It'd be all we'd need. We could escape the nefarious claws of the Capital and raise a family of our own. I imagine it would feel nice, not worrying about losing our children or being trapped in the mines, just living life out here. Then I remember my family.

"If we didn't have so many kids." I add quickly.

They're not our kids, but our siblings and mothers might as well be. Katniss and I are the main supporters for both of our families. They couldn't live without us, leaving would mean killing them. Neither of us could do that, so our loving families are what keeps us anchored in this horrible country.

"I never want to have kids." Katniss says bitterly.

"I might. If I didn't live here." I say. Having kids would mean risking losing them to the Hunger Games or starvation. I couldn't live through that, watching them die. I really would like to have kids some day.

"But you do live here." Katniss reminds me, agitated.

Thank you Katniss, captain obvious, for reminding me of the horrible life I lead. Also, I'd like to thank you for crushing my dreams. I hold back my sarcastic thoughts and decide to say something much shorter.

"Forget it." I snap.

Well that was awkward. Katniss probably thinks that I want to leave my family behind, I'd never do that. I was just dreaming, am I not allowed to do that? I'm still a kid, but I'm the man of my house. Can't I think about how much better life can be? And the kids thing? Wouldn't you rather have kids and loose them than never have them at all? At least you're giving them a short life rather than not letting them exist at all. But I suppose if you never had kids you wouldn't have to watch them die and you'd never know what you're missing.

"What do you want to do?" Katniss asks. We can hunt, fish or gather.

"Let's fish at the lake. We can leave our poles and gather in the woods. Get something good for tonight." I say.

People are supposed to celebrate tonight after the reaping. Most families do because their children are safe for another year. But two families will be grieving, knowing that their child probably won't ever come back.

We get a lot of food today. By late morning, we have a dozen fish, some greens and a gallon of strawberries. A few years ago, Katniss found the patch of strawberries but I had the idea to cover it with netting to protect it from animals. It's the efficient team work like this that keeps us going.

Katniss think I'm a snare wizard, I guess I do know a lot about snares. You just have to combine knowledge of catching the animal, keeping it there and making sure that it's safe from other hungry guests. If you have all that and good construction, then you can make a snare. We each have our strengths. I'm good with snares and Katniss is an archery master. I can shoot an animal, but Katniss could hit a snake's eye in darkness. Katniss's expertise with the bow and arrow is unfathomable.

On the way home we stop by the Hob. The Hob is a black market that is in a building that used to be a warehouse for storing coal until better systems were discovered. Most businesses are closed now on reaping day, but the Hob remains open and pretty busy. We trade six fish for good bread and two for salt. Greasy Sae, a thin old woman who sells soup, takes half of our greens and gives us a couple chunks of paraffin. Greasy Sae doesn't give us the best trade possible, but she's the only one who will buy a wild dog. We don't try to hunt wild dogs, but if you're attacked by one, you really have no choice.

When we're done trading at the Hob, we go to the back door of the mayor's house to sell half the strawberries. The mayor has a sweet spot for strawberries, he always buys from us. The mayor's daughter, Madge, answers the door. She's Katniss's age. She's really not that much of a snob as I suspected, being the mayor's daughter, but I envy her fancy, perfect, rich life.

Today she's wearing an expensive looking dress with her blond hair up in a pink ribbon. You're supposed to dress up for reaping.

"Pretty dress." I say.

Madge looks at me, probably trying to figure out if I meant what I said or I'm being bitter. If she guessed the second one, she's right.

"Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I?" Madge says.

It's my turn to read Madge. I'm thinking she's messing with me.

"You won't be going to the Capitol," I say coolly. I look at a small golden pin on Madge's dress. It's beautiful and wonderfully crafted. Probably made of real gold. I wonder how many other expensive things Madge has. "What can you have? Five entries? I had six when I was just twelve years old."

It's true. Madge doesn't have to worry about going to the Hunger Games. I, with forty two entries, do. And if I live, I'll be scared for life probably both physically and mentally. If I die, my family will probably go down too.

"That's not her fault." Katniss says.

Katniss is right. I can count on her to have moral rectitude when I just turn bitter. But it's not my fault either that I'm poor and have a starving family. It's not my fault that my name is entered in the reaping ball forty two times.

"No, it's no one's fault. Just the way it is." I say.

Madge's face is aloof. She gives Katniss the money for the berries.

"Good luck, Katniss." Madge says.

"You, too." Katniss replies before the door closes.

Katniss and I are pretty silent on the way back home. I can tell she doesn't like the way I talked to Madge. The reaping system isn't fair at all. Katniss has slightly over four times as much a chance of going to the Hunger Games as Madge, just because of their wealth. Katniss and I need to sign up for tesserae. Madge doesn't have to go to bed with her stomach growling, she doesn't have to worry about medical bills, she doesn't have to fight to live. It's difficult not to resent families who don't have to sign up for tesserae. I give up my mental war because I know that it isn't Madge's fault, I just need to take it out on someone. Tesserae are just another thing the Capitol does to cause resentment in our district. It's just a way to split the rich and the poor with a thick line of hatred. The Capitol uses tesserae as an advantage to have us divided among ourselves.

My face must be fixed in the stony position that I force it to be often. I just need to seal my burning emotions, I don't want to show them to the world and be vulnerable. Katniss thinks it's pointless how I yell at the Capitol in the woods. She says it doesn't help, but it does help. It's not going to keep me alive or fed, but it relieves the monster that's weaving up inside of me every time I think about the Capitol. Katniss hates the Capitol, but she doesn't find as much point in expressing that loathing as I do. She will someday, I just know it. Someday when the Capitol does something to really provoke her.

Katniss and I split what's left of our trades. We each get two fish, a few loaves of bread, greens, a quart of strawberries, salt, paraffin, and some money.

"See you in the square." Katniss says.

"Wear something pretty." I say flatly, still in a bad mood.

When I get home, there's a bathtub waiting for me.

Rory, Vick and Posy have already bathed and dressed. I don't need to worry about them today, only next year will Rory have to go through the reaping. This year we're safe. Well, except for me.

"How did the hunt go?" My mother asks.

"Good." I say, pouring the purchases on our table.

My mother looks down at the food and smiles. She looks back up at me with the same look plastered on her face, but her mouth is in congruent to her eyes. Her eyes hold a sad look, she knows how many entries I have in the reaping ball, and she doesn't want to loose me to the Hunger Games. She knows that if I make it this year, she'll never have to worry about me again. But this won't be the last time I see that look in her eyes, my three little siblings have to go through this, too.

"You need a bath, Gale." My mother says, ruffling my hair.

I nod and head to the bathroom.

The bath would be quite relaxing if it weren't reaping day. Every minute that passes, my worry grows rapidly. If I go to the Hunger Games, I'll surely die. Katniss couldn't keep feeding both of our families for a lifetime, could she?

I step out of the bath when I'm clean and as I shake off the water, I hope to shake of my nervousness. It doesn't work, so I slowly get dressed in a suit that I couldn't ever picture myself wearing. I look in the mirror and think how different I look. Clean, dressed up, definitely unlike me.

I step out of the bathroom and into my living room. Three year old Posy comes and clings to my leg. She looks up at me and I return her smile. This is what I'm hunting for, this is why I sign up for tesserae.

"Posy! You have something on your face, I told you not to get dirty!" My mother tries to yell sharply. Her face softens when her daughter reluctantly waddles on over to her. It really is hard to get mad at little Posy.

As I watch my mother clean Posy's face, Rory and Vick surprise attack me from behind. I let out a battle cry and the three of us begin to wrestle. I know I could take down both my eleven and nine year old brother, but I give them a chance.

"Hey, boys, boys!" My mother shouts. "No wrestling, we just got you cleaned up!"

"But mom!" Rory complains.

My mother walks over to us and fixes all of us up, making sure our hair lies flat and our shirts are tucked in. She gives us all a sad smile and walks back over to where she begins cooking our supper.

I look over at my family and the burning hatred for the Capitol wells up inside me again. It's not fair that my mom works for all of us, that I have to break the law so we can survive, that my innocent little siblings may have to die brutal deaths in a cruel arena.

It's one o'clock and we head for the district square. Everybody in the district has to come to the reaping if they don't want to go to jail. The square is big, but it can't hold the whole district, so you want to get there early unless you want to be crowded in the nearby streets.

We make it to the square and my mother looks at all of us. One by one, she kisses each of our foreheads. When she gets to me, she locks me in an embrace that would knock me over if I didn't see it coming.

"I love you." She whispers, holding back tears. "You look so much like your father."

"I love you, too." I say back. My mother mourns my father, but she can't spend too much time grieving, she has a family to take care of.

As my mother steps away, my siblings circle me and hug me too. Pain fills me as I think about separating from my family. I can't look worried in front of my brothers and sister.

"So, I'll see you guys after the reaping is over." I say after we've broken apart. I have to savor these moments when we're all together.

Rory and Vick nod but my mother stays grim, the same smile still stuck on her face. It's the only thing she can do to prevent breaking down.

I throw my family one last glance, along with a reassuring smile. It's all I can do to keep them calm

I head to the eighteen year old section, which is nearest the stage. Behind the eighteen year old section is the seventeen year olds, then the sixteen year olds and so on.

The rest of my grade stands around me, shifting nervously. Normally, I would've talked to my friends and acquaintances, but now, with so much tension and worry, nobody breaks out in friendly chat. My eyes meet with a rich boy in my grade. We stare at each other for a moment before looking away. We both know that I have six times the chance as him of becoming the district twelve boy tribute.

The square is elaborately decorated, but the reaping is no celebration. The only people who find entertainment are the betters. Some disgusting people make bets on which two kids will get picked in the reaping, or which part of the district they are from, or if they will cry when they get picked. Thinking about the people who have the heart to do that just makes me sick.

As two o'clock creeps slowly closer, people make there way into the square until it overflows. Next year, if I'm alive, I'll be one of the people who settles on the outside, not in the age separated sections.

I glance up at the familiar stage which holds three chairs, a podium and two large glass balls, one for each gender. I look at the boys' ball. Forty two of the slips in the ball have Gale Hawethorn written on them. In the girls' ball, twenty slips have Katniss Everdeen's name, and one small slip has Primrose Everdeen written on it. It's Prim's first reaping, her whole family must be nervous. We all know that Prim would never survive the Hunger Games. She couldn't hurt a fly.

Mayor Undersee, Madge's father, sits in one of the chairs. Effie Trinket, district twelve's escort, occupies another. Effie Trinket's hair is a shade of revolting pink. People from the Capitol are more adventurous about their bodies than people in the districts. People from the Capitol die their hair weird colors, pierce their bodies in interesting places, wear a lot of strange cosmetics and even tattoo their whole bodies different colors.

I notice one empty seat on the stage, it seems to be causing much concern to the mayor and Effie Trinket.

At two o'clock, the mayor walks up to the podium to read off what he reads every year. He tells the history of Panem, how it rose from the ashes of what used to be North America. He covers all the natural disasters that destroyed much land and the war that all resulted in Panem, the glorious country ruled by the wonderful city in control of thirteen amazing districts. Then came the Dark Days, the rebelling districts. Twelve districts were defeated and the thirteenth was destroyed. The Treaty of Treason gave us new laws of peace and the annual reminded that the Dark Days must never occur again, so there we have the Hunger Games.

The mayor doesn't say this, but the Hunger Games are a punishment and a slap in the face to the districts. The Capitol shows us that they can just take our children and force them to kill each other and we have no power over it whatsoever. The Hunger Games show us the greatness of the Capitol and how they can crush every district like a bug. That we can't rebel if we want to live. We have to watch our children die.

It doesn't matter how much the speech glorifies the Capitol, it depicts the gruesome message that we all have figured out.

Also, to make it more unbearable and to divide the districts, the Capitol televises the Hunger Games. This makes the districts compete like a silly sport and we all begin to hate each other, hoping for one of our district's tributes to win. The tribute who wins gets to live a life of fame and fortune, and their district gets gifts all throughout the year, most of the gifts being food. This is why the districts are desperate for their tribute to win. Does anyone else notice these impetuous division strategies of the Capitol?

"It is both a time for repentance and thanks." Says the mayor.

Thanks? Thanks for what? Thanks for killing our children, for sitting by and laughing while our district starves?

The mayor reads the list of the past District 12 victors. In seventy four years, we've had only two, making us the laughing stock to the whole country. Only one of our victors, Haymitch Abernathy, is still alive. He staggers onto the stage, late and obviously drunk. The crowd applauds politely and our past victor tries to hug Effie Trinket. Effie Trinket manages to scoot away, and I let out a small snicker, barely a breath.

The nervous mayor creates a diversion by introducing Effie Trinket. The annoyingly bubbly woman trots up to the podium with a smile.

"Happy Hunger Games!" She says cheerfully. "And may the odds be _ever _in your favor."

Effie Trinket goes rambling on with words that mean nothing to me, and I'm able to tune them out. I look over at Katniss, a slight smile pinches my face. Katniss has twenty slips of paper in the reaping ball, more than a lot of girls. A pang of worry fills me. I don't want to loose my best friend to the Hunger Games. I wonder if she is thinking the same thing about me. I turn away, wishing I could talk to Katniss.

It's time for the drawing, so Effie Trinket crosses to the girls' ball.

"Ladies first!" She says.

She reaches into the big ball and draws a slip of paper. I wonder how hard it must be, knowing that you'll be the one who draws the fate of a child. The one person who summons them to their death, that you could change who might die by waiting a second longer. Chills creep up my back as I pray that the paper Effie Trinket chooses doesn't have Katniss's name on it. It doesn't. Instead, she reads off the name.

Primrose Everdeen.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The news hits me like a title wave, but I'm not completely submerged. Prim? Did I hear Effie Trinket right? Prim was one paper slip out of thousands, and she got chosen.

People in the crowds whisper with discontent as they always do when a twelve year old is picked out of the reaping ball. Everybody likes Prim. She's sweet, innocent and nice to everybody. Prim of all people doesn't deserve this.

Prim walks up to the stage, pale and scared looking. I know that Prim won't last long in the Hunger Games. She can't hurt anything, she'll die quickly. It only takes one painful second for me to realize that Prim won't be in the Hunger Games at all. Katniss would never let that happen.

"Prim!" The strangled cry comes out from Katniss. "Prim!"

Katniss doesn't even need to push through the crowd, the other kids move so Katniss can run up to the stage. She pushes Prim behind her.

"I volunteer!" She gasps. "I volunteer as tribute!"

People can volunteer to take over for another tribute after their name is called if they are the same gender. I would have done that for Prim if I weren't a boy. District 12 hasn't had a volunteer in decades, so the crowd is confused.

"Katniss." I moan softly. For some reason, this feels like one of the things that can happen to anybody, anybody in the world but me. This day doesn't feel real, I long to just wake up and find that it all is a dream.

"Lovely." says Effie Trinket. "But I believe there's a small matter of introducing the reaping winner and then asking for volunteers, and if one does come forth then we um…" She trails off, unsure.

My fists are clenched. Everything about Effie Trinket sets me off. Her garrulous and naïve personality bugs me beyond what I'd expect. It's partly because she draws the fate of so many kids in our district, and partly just because she's from the Capitol.

"What does it matter?" says the mayor. He pauses a moment. "What does it matter? Let her come forward."

Prim is screaming hysterically behind Katniss and I silently beg for it to stop. Prim's pained sounds ring out, cutting deeply into me, provoking the sorrow to emerge.

"No, Katniss! No! You can't go!" She cries, her arms wrapped around her sister.

"Prim, let go." Katniss says harshly. She's not crying, but I know she wants to, just like I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her that it's okay.

I feel like I'm suffocating, powerless. I can't force myself to move and I don't even feel like part of this world, like the only real things are Katniss, Prim and the rest of the people on stage.

Suddenly, I gain the strength to walk forward to the stage and peel Prim off Katniss's back. It's what she'd want me to do and now that Katniss is the District 12 female tribute, I have to protect her family. Prim thrashes in my arms but she's no match for me.

"Up you go, Catnip." I say, fighting to keep my voice steady.

I turn away before I get the chance to embarrass myself and carry Prim to Katniss's mother.

"Katniss! Katniss!" Prim cries. She reminds me of the wounded animals that Katniss and I hunt, crying for mercy.

It breaks my heart but I continue forward, all the while, listening to what's happening on stage.

"Well, bravo!" Effie Trinket says. "That's the spirit of the games!" She's probably happy that something interesting is going on, which makes me add another note to my mental list of why I hate Effie Trinket. "What's your name?" Effie asks.

"Katniss Everdeen." I hear Katniss say.

Hearing Katniss's name makes me really realize what's going on. The weight of the situation crashes down on me with annihilating force. Katniss Everdeen, my best friend, will be fighting for survival in a whole new way.

I almost run back on stage to do I don't know what, but I need to get Prim to her mother. Finally, I reach Mrs. Everdeen and let Prim go. Prim crashes into her mother and they cry together. I have no idea what to do.

"I'm so sorry." is all I can manage to choke out.

I turn back to the stage.

"I bet all my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all the glory, do we?" Effie says.

My lip curls up in a snarl. How oblivious can this stupid woman get? Steal the glory? Is that what she thought it was about when Katniss rushed up to the stage desperately as Prim sobbed and clung onto her?

"Come on everybody! Let's give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!" Effie exclaims.

Nobody claps. The safe children, their families, even the betters all are silent. Maybe it's because they know Katniss, or Prim (who everyone likes) or maybe it's just that they've witness Katniss's undying love and protection for her little sister, that everybody stays in silent in respect. None of us agree with this punishment. This isn't right. The Hunger Games have to stop.

I take my left hand, press my three middle fingers to my mouth, and then raise it to Katniss. Katniss's family follows my actions, and soon, one by one, practically the whole District 12 is doing it. This is an old and rarely used gesture of our district. The gesture means admiration, and goodbye to a loved one.

The moment of peace and respect is broken when Haymitch staggers across the stage.

"Look at her. Look at this one!" He says, throwing an arm around Katniss.

My lip curls up in anger.

"Touch her one more time." I say threateningly under my breath.

"I like her!" Haymitch bellows. "Lot's of…" He pauses for an unusually long time to think of the word. "Spunk!" He finishes. "More than you!" Haymitch shouts. "More than you!" He points to the camera before tumbling off stage and knocking himself out.

Was Haymitch mocking the audience, or does he actually have the audacity to taunt the Capitol? Every camera turns on him and I take this as a chance to look at Katniss. She's not crying, she can't afford to look weak. I admire her strength as she turns and looks at the woods. Is she reconsidering running away? Now, part of me thinks we should have gone, Katniss would never have to go to the Hunger Games if we had left. But then Prim would be left to be tortured in the games, and our families left to starve. All I can think about is how I never told Katniss how pretty she looked in her blue dress.

Haymitch is taken away on a stretcher while Effie Trinket tries to regain the attention of the audience.

"What an exiting day!" She remarks, as she tries to straighten what only can be a wig on her head.

Today has been exiting, but not in a way that I'd hoped. I'd use words more like mortifying or horrible to describe today, but at least Effie Trinket got something halfway right for once.

"But more excitement to come! It's time to choose our boy tribute!" Effie Trinket announces.

My stomach gives a big lurch. If my name is drawn, then I go into the games with Katniss. I suppose it would be better to have a friend in there, but then only one of us could return, which I would only let be Katniss. But if both of us are in the games, nobody could feed our families.

Effie grabs a slip and quickly unfolds it.

"Peeta Mellark!" She says quickly.

I know who Peeta is, but I haven't spoken to him directly. I think he's in Katniss's grade, but I know he's the baker's son. He has two older brothers, one is too old for the reaping and the other probably won't volunteer. This is what happens most of the time, Katniss and Prim were a remarkable exception.

Peeta walks up to the stage, clearly fighting to stay unemotional. He's medium height, stocky and has blond hair. The shock on his face is clearly legible, and his eyes depict those of prey that I hunt when they know there's no way out.

In only a moment do I realize that this scared boy is going to have to die if Katniss is going to live. I watch as he walks up onto the stage and nobody volunteers. The mayor proceeds, reading the Treaty of Treason, but I can't focus on that. I watch as Katniss and Peeta sit side by side, at least one of them will die. I hate to wish for somebody's death, but the only way my best friend can live, is if Peeta dies.

Of course, Peeta looks strong, muscular, so he has an advantage there. But he's not from the Seam, he probably doesn't know half as much about survival as Katniss does. Also, Katniss knows how to use weapons, she's very knowledgeable about poisonous plants and she knows what it's like to be hungry.

I slap my leg hard, scolding myself. This is just what the Capitol wants! They want us to be angry, they want us to want the other tributes to die, they want to divide us so they can control us. I'm falling right into their trap and I hate myself for it.

I look back at Prim and her mother, still holding hands, tear tracks are imprinted on their faces. How hard will it be for Prim to watch her sister fight to the death if she can't bear the thought of killing animals for simply food? These next months will be torture for all of us, especially young Prim.

I watch as Peeta and Katniss shake hands. It probably is crossing both of their minds that at least one of them is going to die. The anthem plays as they turn around to face the crowd.

How is Katniss going to survive the Hunger Games? How am I going to survive watching them, knowing that Katniss Everdeen's small chances of survival are becoming even slimmer?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

A group of Peacekeepers leads Katniss and Peeta into the Justice Building where they can visit with family and friends. Once they've disappeared inside the huge building, more Peacekeepers call out to the crowd.

"Family and friends that want to visit Katniss Everdeen, this way, please!" A Peacekeeper instructs.

Prim and Mrs. Everdeen move towards the Peacekeeper as he continues to call out. I search the vast crowd for my family. They remain inconspicuous in the flood of people, so I head after Prim and Mrs. Everdeen, assuming that my family will know where I am.

We walk up the long staircase to enter the Justice Building. This descent feels familiar because I climbed these stairs once before to be presented with an award after my father died in the mine accident. So, unfortunately, my experiences with the Justice Building haven't been pleasant.

We are lead into a large hallway with one door at the end before being given instructions.

"You are to wait out here until it is your turn to visit." One of the Peacekeepers says. "We will send you in alone, or in groups if you like."

I wait as Katniss's mother and sister are let into the room at the front of the line. Also in my line is Madge, whom I look away from awkwardly.

"Hello, Gale." She says quietly.

"Madge." I say with a nod of my head.

I look over and her eyes are huge, desperate looking.

"You can go in before me." I offer, motioning to the door.

"Thank you." Madge says, stepping in front of me.

I wasn't just trying to be nice to Madge, I want to visit Katniss last for reasons inexplicable to me. I know that I need as much time to think of the right words to say as I can, this may very well be the last time I see Katniss.

An unfamiliar pain tightens my chest, unlike any other pain I've felt before. The pain of losing my father was unbearable, but this pain is different. I close my eyes and replay in my head all the wonderful moments with Katniss. Only now do I realize how much I will miss Katniss, with her gone, I won't be able to talk to anybody else the way I do with her. Nobody understands me like she does, and nobody ever will. I feel a longing, pulling at my heart. I wish I were the tribute, not Katniss. I was just beginning to discover what I really felt for her, but now the Capitol has to take her away.

I slam my fist against the wall and one small tear slides across my cheek. No more come, but it's strange to me because I can't remember the last time I cried. Straining to look back, I realize that it was years ago after my father died that I had last shed tears.

Someone walks up behind me and I wheel around. Surprised and embarrassed, I discover that it's Peeta's father, the baker.

"Oh, um… I'm sorry." He mutters awkwardly.

"Oh, no, what?" I ask, not even sure of what I'm saying. I hope he can't tell that I've been crying. I don't know why I'm ashamed, I have every reason to cry, but I don't want to reveal my tears to the world.

We stand there for a few moments and I rub the back of my neck nervously.

"You here to see Katniss?" I ask.

"Yes." The baker replies.

I wonder vaguely why the baker wants to see Katniss, but I give him the same offer as Madge.

"You can go ahead of me." I say.

"And me as well." Madge chimes in.

The baker moves ahead of the two of us, not saying a word. The doors burst open from the visiting room and Prim and her mother come out. Both of the Everdeens' mortified faces are moistened with tears, I can't blame them.

The baker shuffles into the room, somewhat reluctantly, and the door closes.

I stare off into space, knowing my life will drastically change within these next few months. The only other time I really felt like this was when my father died. I don't want to loose another loved one. I don't know how much more I can take of this.

"I'm sorry about today." I blurt. I have no idea where my apology came from, but I suppose it wasn't overly passionate. I remain turned away from Madge.

Madge says nothing.

Madge is the very least of my worries right now, so to be candid, I don't care if she accepts my apology or not. You don't deserve an apology if you can't accept it.

Finally, the baker exits the room and Madge goes in. It looks like I'm the last visitor.

I wonder what I should say to Katniss. The miniscule amount of time given for goodbyes won't be enough for me to tell her what I want and reveal my true feelings. The only problem is, I don't know my true feelings. I wonder if I tell Katniss how I feel, if it will give her courage or if it will make her horrified and perform worse in the arena. The thought that I could contribute to Katniss's death makes me shudder.

Madge walks out of the room long before I expected her to, looking confident. I wonder what might've occurred between the two girls. I take a deep breath and walk into the visiting room. The door closes behind me. Finally I'm alone with Katniss.

I open my arms and Katniss flies at me, pressing her body into mine for a long embrace. I rest my head on Katniss's and I don't ever want to let go. I want to stay in this moment forever, the world consisting of only me and my best friend. This would be better without words, but I need to talk to Katniss.

"Listen," I say. "Getting a knife should be pretty easy, but you've got to get your hands on a bow. That's your best chance."

"They don't always have bows." Katniss says.

She's right, the games don't always supply the weapons needed, but there has to be a way Katniss can get a bow, she can eliminate a lot of threats with a bow.

"Then make one." I say. "Even a weak bow is better than no bow at all."

Making a bow will be extremely difficult, but the Hunger Games aren't meant to be easy.

"I don't even know if there'll be wood." Katniss says.

One year in the Hunger Games, the contestants were thrown in a barren land with only rocks, sand, and scruffy bushes. I pray that this year there will be some valuable resources.

"There's almost always some wood since that year half of them died of cold. Not much entertainment in that." I say. Of course I never find death entertaining, but the people from the Capitol do.

Another year, the tributes were in an arena with no wood for fires and the contestants slowly froze to death. The non-violent, bloodless deaths displeased the people in the Capitol, so they almost always provide wood of some sort.

"Yes, there's usually some." Katniss says.

"Katniss, it's just hunting. You're the best hunter I know." I say honestly.

"It's not just hunting. They're armed. They think." Katniss protests.

"So do you. And you've had more practice. Real practice." I insist. "You know how to kill."

"Not people." Katniss says.

"How different can it be, really?" I say grimly.

I know that it can be a lot different, but if you just get past it enough to kill the person, you have time for grievance and remorse later.

The Peacekeepers walk back into the room. It's way too soon.

"Please, can we have more time?" I beg, desperately.

The Peacekeepers grab onto my sleeve and I step away.

"Don't let them starve!" Katniss cries, clinging to my hand.

I don't want her to let go of my hand, I want to stay in this room. I know it's time to tell her.

"I won't! You know I won't!" I say, struggling to remain in the room. "Katniss, remember I-

The door closes before I can finish the two words I want to say.

"No!" I cry, breaking free of the Peacekeepers. Damn, it!

I bang on the door of the visiting room, but it does no good, it's locked. I sink to the floor, helpless and ashamed. Why couldn't I tell her earlier?

"Catnip!" I call weakly.

"Sir, you must exit the building." One of the Peacekeepers says harshly.

I glare at the man with conviction. Why didn't he let me stay just a moment longer? I don't want to appear weak, but I need one more chance.

"Please." I say imploringly. "Let me just tell her one sentence, three words, that's all I need."

The Peacekeeper shakes his head.

"Nobody goes in there and I'm not going to cut you any deals." He says shortly.

I can only shoot him a painful look, how could he not have the heart to just let me say three, quick, simple but meaningful words?

I walk out of the Justice Building, headed for home. That might be the last time I'll ever actually speak to Katniss. I force myself not to think like that the rest of the way home.

When I stumble into my house, I find my family sitting at the kitchen table. I take a seat beside Rory.

"You went to visit Katniss?" My mother asks gently.

I nod, staring at the kitchen table. A few gloomy minutes pass by until my mother breaks the silence.

"We're going to the Everdeens' place for dinner tonight." My mother says.

I nod again.

"Dinner is ready, so if we all could pitch in and bring some food over…" my mother trails off.

There's a squeak of chairs against the floor as we all get out of our seats. Each of us carries part of the meal on a covered plate. We make our way to Katniss's house without a word. Once we reach the small, familiar household, my mother knocks on the door.

"Hazelle!" Katniss's mother cries, locking mine in an embrace.

My mother pats Mrs. Everdeen's shoulder as she lets out a few sobs.

I glance inside the house and spot a tear stained Prim sitting at the table.

"Come in." Katniss's mom says in a brittle voice.

My whole family walks into the house, placing the food on the kitchen counter. My eyes wander around the house. It's so familiar, but now the air is strangely grim and heavy.

"Sit down." Mrs. Everdeen offers.

Both mothers prepare the meal, though nobody's hungry. How can I eat when I know I probably won't ever see my best friend again? The supper is set on the table and I reluctantly pick my way through it. I've gone to bed still hungry many times and have seen many people starve to death, I can't let food go to waste.

It's strange to me how just this morning I was with Katniss, hunting in the woods like any other day. We talked and laughed, not knowing what fate had set for the rest of the day. I wonder if I'll ever even laugh again.

Worried chatter erupts from the table, but I tune it all out. I can only see Katniss, right before we were yanked apart and I was dragged into the hallway. Why couldn't I tell her earlier?

The family continues talking until I can't take it anymore.

"She's going to win." I say firmly.

Everybody who was talking is now silent. All eyes are on me.

"She has to." I say.

It seems like no matter what happens, Katniss can't die. I won't let it happen. I know I have no control over anything that happens in the arena, but I still let myself drown in childish thoughts.

"I mean, sure, some other people in there have waited, trained for this day to come, but they don't know what it's really like to have your life on the line, Katniss does." I say.

It's true, some people, especially in the Career districts, 1, 2 and 4, have been looking forward to being a tribute. Some of those kids have even trained for the Hunger Games.

"Katniss can find food." I say. "She can hunt, and if she gets a bow, there's no way she can loose."

I know I'm exaggerating a bit, but I need to keep away from negativity.

"She's a fighter." I finish, with a lot more bravery in my voice than I feel.

I look at the rest of the family, their faces are stony, but they nod.

"You're right." Prim says weakly. "She is a fighter."

I'm glad for the supporting comment, for a moment, I thought nobody agreed with me. We finish the rest of dinner, mostly in silence. We help clean up before turning on the small old television in the Everdeens' living room to watch the recap of the day.

The reapings are played in order from District 1 to 12. Some tributes look like major threats, like a huge boy from District 2, who was eager to volunteer. Other tributes look like they don't belong, like a boy with a crippled foot from District 10 and a small twelve year old from District 11 that reminds me of Prim. The look on her face when she was chosen is hard to watch. It's hard for me to look at all of these kids because all of them will have to die in order for Katniss to live.

The program is over, and just as we're ready to leave, I remember something.

"Mrs. Everdeen!" I cry as she almost shuts the door.

"Yes?" Katniss mother asks.

"Katniss and I made a deal, if one of us were ever going into the Hunger Games, the other would hunt for both families and make sure that they're safe." I say.

Mrs. Everdeen just stands for a moment before leaping into my arms. Taken aback, I pat her back, unsure of what to do. I've been getting a lot of hugs lately.

"Gale, you're the best friend Katniss could've picked." Mrs. Everdeen says.

"Thanks, Katniss is the best possible daughter you could've raised." I say.

Mrs. Everdeen breaks away from me, mouthing what I think is a 'thank you' and we walk away, with nothing more to say.

The hours fly by until I find myself lying in bed, unable to fall asleep. I stare at my ceiling with discontent. I wonder if Katniss is asleep right now, or if she is kept awake with the same thoughts that gnaw at my mind. Is Katniss thinking about me? Does she wish she could've said something more than she did? I doubt that she feels the way I do, I'll probably always just be her best friend. The thought of that pains me greatly. Why am I so stupid? Why can't I realize what I love before it's gone?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four 

I wake up slowly. My eyelids feel heavy, so I open them reluctantly. I take a few deep, shallow breaths before remembering the events from the day before.

"Katniss!" I cry, bolting up into a sitting position. My heart is racing and I'm breathing deep. Is it true? Please, tell me it isn't true. I drag myself into the kitchen where I see my mother sitting at the table.

"Katniss?" I ask weakly.

My mother gives a grim nod that can only mean confirmation.

I moan and sink into the nearest chair, my head it my hands. It's a school day today, but I'm not ready to go out and face the world. On a normal day, I'd walk to school with Katniss, I'd pass her in the hallway, say hello, but today none of that will happen. Today Katniss will wake up in the Capitol probably, on the other side of Panem.

I get dressed and ready for school, trying unsuccessfully to block Katniss from entering my mind. The Hunger Games is now a topic that forever lingers in my thoughts.

After a quick breakfast, I head off to school with Rory and Vick. Of course, our age difference has us going to separate schools, but they still start at the same time and are adjacent to each other.

"Hey, Gale." One of my friends, Cormack, says as I approach our school.

"Hey." I reply, falling into stride with him.

We pause, Katniss's absence consuming us. Though we keep quiet, we both know what each other want to say. Awkwardly silent, we head inside to our separate Homeroom classes. I take a chair in my usual seat and stare off into space. There's really not much to do in Homeroom. Suddenly, I feel like there are eyes drilling into the back of my skull. I turn around to find my Homeroom teacher staring at me. When our eyes meet, she quickly looks away. Feeling invaded, I turn away also.

"Hey." A pretty girl in my Homeroom class slides into the seat next to me. Her name's Ginger and she's from the better part of District 12. She has blond hair and soft blue eyes.

"Hello." I say with a flash of a smile. Why does she want to talk to me?

"That's really sad about your friend." Ginger says.

It seems like too light a comment to make on the topic, but I know Ginger just wants to make conversation. I definitely don't want to talk about anything right now, especially the reaping.

"Her name's Katniss." I snap, rather rudely.

Ginger for a moment looks taken aback, but she soon resumes her normal expression.

"I know, she was so nice, too." Ginger says.

I hate how Ginger is talking about Katniss in past tense, like my best friend is long gone with no hope of return.

"I was thinking, maybe if you're… free this weekend?" Ginger asks. "Maybe we could, go somewhere?" She bites her lip and looks up at me hopefully, obviously trying to look cute. She's succeeded, but I'm not going to fall into her trap. I know all about snares, and I'm not just about to go walking into this one.

"I'm busy, sorry." I say without much passion. It's true, I'll probably have homework and I have to feed seven people.

"Oh." Ginger says before slowly getting up and walking away.

I look over to see a sixteen year old boy gaping at me, probably wondering why I rejected the prettiest girl in my Homeroom class. I just stare right through him until the bell rings to signify the conclusion of Homeroom, and I head to my honors English class.

"Hey, you okay?" Cormack asks me as I walk through the door. "You look a little dazed."

"Dazed? What? No." I reply quickly.

Cormack laughs lightly, but I can see that his eyes are sad. He knows that I'm not okay and he knows why.

All throughout class, I'm unable to pay attention. I really want to, but every time I catch a word the teacher says, I slide right back out into my own world of gloom.

"Gale?" My teacher's voice breaks my concentration.

I snap back into the real world.

"Yes?" I reply, too quickly and too loudly.

"Do you know the answer to the problem we just solved?" The teacher asks me.

"Umm…" I say, racking my brains I begin to panic, what was the question? "X equals 3.14?"

The class snickers and I know I've done something wrong. Well, I didn't even catch the question.

"Gale, you're in English." The teacher reminds me gently.

"Oh." I say, embarrassed.

The teacher sighs.

"Are you okay, Gale?" he asks.

"Yeah, how about you?" I reply. I'm not usually much of a smart mouth, but it relieves some tension. My teacher gives me a small smile.

"I'm fine, now Mr. Hawthorne, I suggest you pay closer attention." The teacher says.

I nod and give my best effort to listen. It's difficult, but I manage to learn a few things. The rest of my classes go this way until finally the school day is over and I'm free. Throughout the day, there seems to be an awkward tension between me and my classmates, nobody looks me directly in the eyes for long.

"Hey, are you free after school?" Cormack asks me as we get ready to leave.

"No." I say. "Sorry." I do have a lot of homework and a lot of hunting to do.

Just then, my eyes meet Peeta Mellark's older brother's eyes and we stare at each other for a moment. Clearly, he's been getting the same treatment that I've been getting today. We both know that either my best friend or his brother at least will have to die in the Hunger Games. We both choose to look away at the same time.

I go outside the school to go meet up with Rory and Vick.

"Hey, guys, how'd school go?" I ask.

"Fine." My brothers reply in unison.

"Do you think you could drop my things off at home before I," I pause and look around to make sure that nobody is eavesdropping. "Before I go to work?"

Rory and Vick understand that by 'work' I mean hunting. We just have to be careful about what we say, I can't afford to be arrested right now.

I hand my brothers my backpack and head for the woods. It's been a while since I've hunted alone, it's going to be really different.

"Gale!" I hear someone shout. "Wait up!"

I turn around to see Prim running towards me. She can't want to hunt with me, can she? Katniss has tried to teach Prim to hunt, but she always feels too bad for the animals.

"Prim?" I ask.

"Katniss would want you to have this." Prim says, thrusting a heavy book into my hands. "It's a book that helps you identify edible and poisonous plants."

I study the old book in my hands. It's heavy and sure to be helpful.

"Thank you, I'll really need it." I say.

Prim nods and gives me a hug that I didn't see coming. She's probably had a rough day at school with her sister being the new tribute.

"Bye, Gale." Prim says before turning around and walking away.

Book in hand, I head for the woods. The fence, like usual, is uncharged, so I wriggle through the hole that I usually do. I grab my weapons and materials I need and walk to the place where I usually meet Katniss and just sit there for a while.

"C'mon Gale, you need to stop wallowing in this and actually do something." I tell myself. I begin to get worried, the first sign of going crazy is talking to yourself.

I get a sudden impulse to throw something. I glance at a rock by my side and pick it up. I grunt as I hurtle it as far as I can. The rock lands with a thud and scares up a couple of birds. I hate the Capitol. I hate the Capitol. I seize another rock and throw it again. I really, really hate the Capitol. After I've thrown a few more rocks, I decide to actually hunt.

Anger somewhat relieved, I start checking the snares that I've set up. The whole process usually takes about an hour, and when I'm done I've got two rabbits, a turkey and a squirrel. I don't think it's enough, so I decide to gather some herbs and berries. During my search, I stumble across a patch of berries that I've never picked from.

"Let's see if you're any use." I say to the book in my hand.

I skim the book until I find an identical picture to the bush of berries I discovered. I match up the shape and size of the berries, along with the height of the bush and characteristics of the leaves. Finally, I determine that they are safe to devour.

I plop one of the orange-red berries in my mouth. The sweet flavor erupts in my mouth, making me want more. I disregard the temptation and gather as many as I can fit in my container. Then, I leave to gather herbs and greens.

Once I've picked many greens, I draw my bow. I need to kill at least one more animal. Stealthily, I creep through the woods, not making a sound. I spot a turkey and I ready my bow. Before the animal has time to notice my presence, an arrow pierces its middle. I run over with my knife and make sure the turkey is dead.

I sling my well hidden kills across my back and head nonchalantly into town, not wanting to raise suspicions. I walk over to the Hob where I make my trades.

I leave the Hob with half of the berries, a few loaves of bread, some soap, a few of the herbs and greens, some milk, one turkey and some left over money. Ironically, the head Peacekeeper, Cray, loves wild turkey. I plod home with my earnings.

"Get anything good?" My mother asks as I walk through the door.

"Yeah, can you butcher a turkey?" I ask her.

"Of course." My mother replies as I hand her the bird.

While my mom cleans my kill, I divide the rest of my purchases in half. When everything is split and the turkey butchered, I head over to the Everdeens' house with half of the remains. When I reach the house, I knock on the door.

"Gale?" Mrs. Everdeen answers.

"I'm here to drop off some things." I say, handing her the bag.

Mrs. Everdeen's eyes glisten with tears.

"Thank you." she manages.

"Really, it's no problem, my pleasure." I say. "Anything I can do for Katniss."

Mrs. Everdeen nods slowly and I give her a small smile, not because I feel like smiling, because I want to reassure her. Reassure her for what, I don't exactly know.

I turn around and head home. When I'm inside, I get straight to working on my homework. I place hunting as a priority over schoolwork. The work is somewhat strenuous on my brain, it really would've helped if I had paid attention in class, but I manage to get some work done before dinner.

"Dinner!" My mother calls from the kitchen

I abandon my schoolwork and go to the kitchen to eat. Will everyday be this stressful? I'm not even halfway done with my homework and I'm extremely tired. Well, school will be ending soon, so I won't have to deal with the work ever again, considering this is my last year in high school. That's a pleasing thought except for the fact that the end of school will mean work in the mines. Suppose Katniss dies in the Hunger Games, I'll have to supply all seven people and work twelve hours a day six days a week. Worry floods my brain as I wonder how I'd manage that. I could always teach Rory to hunt, but I don't want to risk him getting caught. I just pray that Katniss makes it back and then she'll have plenty of money for her family. The main reason I want Katniss to live is not because of the financial problems.

After I finish my dinner, I help my mother clean up.

"Gale." She says, drying a plate.

"Yes?" I reply.

"You don't need to help me clean up, you already do enough." My mother says sternly.

"You do enough, too, Mom." I say. It's true, my mother works many hours and manages a family of five. I can see why Katniss never wanted a family.

"Yes, but I don't have forgotten schoolwork lying on my bedroom floor." My mother says with a smile.

I grin back at her.

"Good point." I say, returning to my work.

Filling out papers keeps me up well into the night, but I won't sleep well even if I didn't have homework. I sigh and roll over in bed. Why Katniss? Why me?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The moment I'm awake I groan and roll over. I don't want to go to school today. I don't want to face my classmates again. I hesitate before pulling myself out of bed to get dressed and send myself to torture.

Today the tributes will be reintroduced and I will get a better look at what Katniss is up against. I hope she doesn't get too intimidated by some of their excessive brawn. Katniss has more brain than a lot of the people out there, I'm sure of it.

I trudge out to my kitchen for breakfast.

"Gale, just in case you didn't know, the tributes are going to be on tonight." My mother says as I eat a quick breakfast.

"I know." I say.

My mother looks at me questioningly.

"We're going to have to watch." I say after swallowing my toast.

My mother nods and turns around. She was probably wondering if I would want to watch or if I'd want to stay as far away from the television as possible. I despise the Capitol and everything to do with it, especially the Hunger Games, but I'm going to have to watch for Katniss. I really don't ever want to see her in the arena, or in any kind of danger, but I need to watch to know if she's safe.

I put my dishes away and gather my school supplies together. Although homework isn't the most important thing in my life, I really wish I did well. Usually I get good grades, but with a distraction like this I better try to keep up the good work. It's going to be tough, but I'll just have to survive another month before summer. But of course, summer brings a whole new worry. The Hunger Games.

The air is cool and dreary as I walk to school with Rory and Vick. Finally, weather that fits my mood.

"Can I learn to hunt?" Rory blurts.

"Yeah, someday." I say. "I'll teach you."

We walk a few paces without speaking.

"What about me?" Vick asks.

"When you're older." I say. This is all making me nervous. I don't want to put any of my family at risk or make them work too hard.

We walk the rest of the way to school in silence. Silence is one of my talents. When I want to make an offensive comment that goes too far or something similar, I just lock my jaw and stare into the distance. It's not very satisfying, but it works.

"Gale!" I hear Cormack call. I say goodbye to my brothers and head over to join my friend.

"Did you finish your homework?" I ask.

"Yeah, how about you?" Cormack replies.

"Yeah." I say with a sigh. "But I don't think I did too well."

"No surprise there." Cormack says with a grin.

"Shut up." I snap, smiling for one of the first times in what feels like forever.

I look over to my left, where Katniss should be. The smile slowly fades from my face and I become, once more, impassive.

"Hey, Gale, Cormack." One of my friends, Nigel, says as he fills in the empty spot, bringing along Jareth, another of my friends.

"Nigel. Jareth." Cormack and I say in unison.

All four of us live in the Seam. Cormack looks the least like someone from the Seam with his light brown hair, but his mother was from the better part of District 12. Nigel has curly black hair and Jareth has short, straight dark hair.

We begin to make conversation before we depart for homeroom. I take my usual seat and look over my homework. I can't have possibly done this right. Disgruntled, I look up from my paper.

Ginger and her friend, Felicity, are whispering together, staring at me. The quickly look away and their low voices become more rapid. It's no mystery what they're talking about. I keep my gaze on them until my attention is transferred to the sixteen year old boy from my homeroom who I can't name.

"Why didn't you go out with her?" He asks me.

"'Cause I'm busy." I reply flatly, turning away. Katniss would be another reason, but the boy doesn't need to know that. Nobody needs to know that.

Homeroom ends and I head for English. Again, through the day, I'm lost completely in my classes. This time, the teachers don't notice as much. Or at least they don't show it. The school day drags on as the minutes feel like hours and the hours feel like days. Finally, after seven excruciating hours, I'm free.

I pack my things and head out the school door.

"Gale!" I hear a voice call.

I wheel around. It's my English teacher. Why does he have to stop me now?

"Yes?" I ask, not revealing my discontentment.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He says.

This conversation feels really weird, I being taller than the teacher just adds to the awkwardness somehow.

"I'm alright." I say uncomfortably. I hate it when people try to read my emotions, I've become so good at closing them off.

"You just seem…different." My teacher says.

"That's weird." I remark lightly.

The teacher locks me in his gaze and I look away, exposing my vulnerability.

"Gale, is something wrong at home? You can tell me anything." The teacher says earnestly.

People say you can tell your teacher anything, but I don't trust my teachers. Sure, they're nice, but when I need someone to lean on, I tend to just look to Katniss. That's obviously not an option right now, since she's the source of my pain, so I'll just stay strong by myself.

"I'm honestly just fine." I lie, forcing a smile.

My teacher returns my smile and walks away. He knows there's something else, he can just ask another student and they'll tell him everything. He'll probably go to Cormack, Nigel, or Jereth since they are all my friends that are in my English class.

I watch Rory and Vick come from their school and head over to me.

"Are you going hun-…to work again?" Vick asks.

"Yes, I'll be going every day." I say, glad that Vick didn't accidently reveal my future whereabouts.

I hand my brothers my bag before heading off for the woods.

"Wait!" I call, running towards Rory.

"What?" he asks.

"I need something in there." I take my backpack and remove the plant identification book. I rub its well worn cover before heading off again. "Thanks."

Normally, hunting would be my very favorite part of the day. Now it's just lonely and stressful.

I crawl under the fence and head out into the woods. I retrieve my weapons and decide that I should fish today to give the snares more time to work. The fish bite best at around sunset, so I decide to gather some food first.

I head into the woods, searching for edible plants. I pick a few berries that I recognize and gather some herbs. I come across a bush I haven't made note of before with dark berries. Before I pluck one off and taste it, I look it up in the book first.

"Come on." I say, searching for the right photograph.

Finally, I find a picture perfect match to the bush.

"Nightlock." I read. "Extremely poisonous…will kill a grown man nearly the instant it hits the stomach…"

I close the book and step away from the plant. I'm giving those berries as wide a berth as possible.

I spend a few more minutes searching for food, and feeling satisfied with today's gatherings, I head down to the lake.

Fishing gets lonely and boring after a while, but I'm not going to let that stop me from feeding my family. I sit by the lake, waiting for fish to bite. I rest my head in my hands, watching the makeshift bobber intently. It falls a few times and then rises right back up as if nothing ever nibbled it. I stay patient until finally the bobber sinks below the water's surface and doesn't return.

"Ha!" I yell.

I yank the fishing pole back and the line comes flying out of the water, fish attached. I remove the good sized fish from the hook and quickly kill it. I add it to my new pile of meat. As evening arrives, my pile grows larger.

When I leave the woods, I have eight fish and some fruits and greens. I head to the Hob where I make a few trades and leave with a few fish, eggs, some fruits and vegetables, and a bit extra money.

It must be pretty late because the sun has almost sunken below the horizon, and it's almost summer so it usually doesn't set for a while. Oh well, a late dinner is better than none at all.

I reach the Everdeens' house and knock on the door. Prim answers.

"Hi, Gale." She says.

"Hi, I've got food for today…" I hand Prim half of my trades.

"Hold on one minute." Prim says, taking the food and storing it away.

I shift my weight uncomfortably. Why does Prim want me to wait here? Usually I just hand her the food and get going.

Prim returns with a jug of milk.

"Here, take this." She says.

"No, I can't." I reply. I'm supposed to keep her alive, not the other way around.

"You need it." Prim begs.

"So do you." I say.

"Look, I have some extra milk from Lady, take it." Prim insists.

"Like I said, I can't." I say.

"Yes, you can." Prim says. "Look, how am I supposed to just sit here while you feed us? This is the least I can do."

I look at the milk. We do need food and even though my family is bigger, I still give half of the haul to the Everdeens.

"Okay, thanks Prim." I say, taking the goat milk.

"No, no, thank you." Prim says.

With that, I leave for my house, feeling only slightly guilty.

"Gale, it's almost on!" Rory shouts when I get home.

The introduction of the tributes! I almost forgot!

I slide to the couch after I put away today's haul. The television is already on.

A smile twitches at my face when I think of what Katniss must've been through. The stylists in the Capitol will probably have "perfected" her by now. Katniss never had much concern for how she looked, unlike a lot of girls my age. Her stylists will probably have removed every hair on her body and will probably make her up beyond imagination. I can't picture my best friend like that.

I really do hope they don't mess Katniss up too much. I think of how the Capitol people look and shudder. Tattoos, piercings, weird hair dyes, crazy makeup, now I'm starting to get worried.

Every year, to introduce all of the tributes, each District pair goes around the Capitol in a horse drawn carriage, wearing outfits that represent their district. Usually the District 12 tributes have ugly coal miner outfits, once they were bare naked except covered in coal dust. I quickly pray that Katniss is fully clothed.

The District 1 tribute carriage rolls onto the screen, drawn by magnificent white horses. The tributes are dressed in white and look absolutely dazzling. The people of the Capitol scream. District 1 is always a crowd pleaser. District 1 makes luxury and beauty items for the Capitol.

I watch intently as the rest of the Districts parade by. I wait for District 12, wondering what kind of hideous outfit they'll have this year. Then, District 12 appears on the screen. It's not the coal black horses that catch my eye, it's the District 12 costumes. I try to look at the tributes, and am alarmed when I see blazing fire.

"What!" I yelp aloud. "Fire!"

Confused, I lean into the screen. Sure enough, Katniss and Peeta's capes are on fire. But they hold hands, smile and wave nonchalantly, as if their costumes weren't aflame. The crowd is going wild and I slowly realize that this is supposed to happen. I smile. This is definitely the best District 12 costume I've ever seen. Katniss waves and blows kisses to the crowd, looking pleased with the attention.

"Wow." I remark.

"That's very different." My mom says. "In a good way."

The more I look at the costume the more I love it, the same appears to happen with the Capitol audience. The fire really makes Katniss look good, that's for sure. The camera is in love with the District 12 tributes. Even as President Snow, the despicable man that rules Panem, gives the welcome, the camera spends more time on the District 12 tributes than any of the others.

"I wonder who's the main stylist." I say.

"Whoever it is sure is amazing." My mom replies.

The program ends and I know there will be a lot of talk about the District 12 outfits. Usually, we get the least attention of all of the Districts, being the laughing stock of Panem. Finally, we've put them all in their place. This is really good because sponsors get to help tributes in the games, send them items and such. If Katniss can get to be one of the favorites, then she'll probably pick up some sponsors. She's going to need as much help as she can get.

"I was really worried to see what they might be wearing this year." My mother admits. "I really think the crowd loved them, though."

She gives my arm a squeeze and smiles.

"Yeah, the camera couldn't stop cutting to them." I say.

We eat supper and I head to my room. I try to complete my homework, finding myself unable to concentrate. Finally, when I retire to bed, I know that tomorrow everybody's going to be talking about Katniss, the girl who was on fire.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Gale? Gale?" the tiny whisper wakes me up.

I rub my eyes and turn to face the noise. It's Posy. She's come into my room. It must be around three in the morning.

"Posy?" I say sleepily.

"I had a bad dream." she replies in a small voice. "Can I crawl in with you?"

"Why didn't you go to Mom?" I ask gently. Posy and my mother share a room while Vick, Rory and I share one. Rory and Vick have to share a bed, but theirs is bigger than mine, which I occupy alone.

Posy looks at me sadly for a moment.

"Mommy can't fight away the monsters." Posy says.

"But I can." I say with a smile.

I can't let Posy down, she looks so cute and scared. I make room in my bed and pat it. Posy jumps on and curls up next to me.

"Those monsters won't get past me." I say, flexing my arm muscles.

Posy reaches out and touches my arm, giggling.

I wait in bed until Posy falls asleep. It doesn't take very long. Soon her eyes close and her breathing becomes deep and less frequent. I try to sleep but it's useless, even though I really do need my sleep.

I give up and just try to choose the words I will say to Katniss when she gets back. If she gets back. No, when she gets back because she is coming back. I argue with myself all of the time now. Even though being a District 12 tribute is practically a death sentence, Katniss has to make it back.

I continue to try to string words together in my brain, but they all either just sound wrong or aren't strong enough to express my emotions. When will I tell Katniss this anyway? When she gets back, the public will be all over her. Well, if Katniss comes out of the arena anything like she is now, she's going to go hunting with me someday. A pain jolts through me as I think about never hunting with Katniss again. I have to stop thinking like this.

I look down at Posy who is sleeping very hard. Why does the Capitol make us go through this? Risk our children's lives, force us to sit by as they slowly die. Surely the Capitol has some sense of goodness or possibly a small, shriveled heart. Maybe all of this will end someday. I want to live to see it end, or die trying to stop it.

When I wake up, Posy is still sleeping by my side. I must've fallen asleep somewhere in my angry train of thoughts. I get up, trying to get out of the room without disturbing my little sister. She stirs as I leave the bed, but doesn't wake.

I groggily head out to my kitchen where I fix myself a meal. My mother walks in.

"Gale, I just wanted to know, how are you doing in school?" She asks.

I put my fork down and concentrate on my plate.

"I'm fine." I say. I notice that this is probably the sentence I've said most since the reaping. Every single time, I've been lying.

"Are you sure?" My mom asks. She's really good at looking deeply into a person. I'm good at blocking those people.

I smile.

"Mom, I'm eighteen, I think I know when I'm fine." I say.

With that, I get up and get dressed. Will I ever get pass this stage? Right now, I have no idea.

I head to school with Rory and Vick. We part ways once we reach the school.

My classes go by slow as usual. My English teacher especially has been vigilant in noticing my spacey and unreachable demeanor. All throughout class, he looks at me, occasionally raising his eyebrows. He knows something is wrong, but I'm not going to tell him what. The truth is I don't think I have the strength to say it. My best friend is probably going to die. It's agonizing to even think about.

Finally, I go to the last period of my school day, physics. Cormack, Jareth and my friend Zeke are all in my physics class.

"Hey, Gale." Zeke says as I take a seat by him.

"Hey." I say.

I look over at two boys talking a few desks away. I hear a quick snippet of their conversation.

"That girl, Katniss Everdeen-"

I walk over to the pencil sharpener, which is conveniently placed by the pair of boys. I decide to nonchalantly listen in on their conversation.

"She looked so pretty last night in that costume." the boy with blond hair remarks.

I clench my fists. I do not like this conversation already.

"Yeah, it's such a shame that she's a tribute." the second boy, with darker hair, says.

"How long do you think she'll last, a day, two?" the blond haired boy asks with a snicker.

I've stopped sharpening my pencil, I'm too mad to care anymore.

"I don't know, I'd say a couple weeks." the second boy says.

"Let's make a bet, I say she doesn't last a week, here I have some money-

My last nerve has broken. Infuriated, I turn around and punch the boy with the blond hair. His head snaps back and he falls to the ground, clutching his bloody nose.

"What the hell!" the other boy screams as gasps fill the air. All talking has stopped and everyone's watching us.

I raise my fist again but Cormack and Jareth run over to me to stop me from punching the other kid. Zeke grabs the darker haired boy to stop him from getting to me. I struggle against my friends' forces and am unable to progress.

"Boys! Boys!" Our physics teacher yells. "Stop at once!"

It seems to have escaped me that I'm going to get in trouble for this. I just acted at the moment out of uncontrollable impulse. I stop fighting against my friends and sit down in a chair.

My friends let go of my tentatively, ready to pounce back if I move forward.

"Are you okay?" The teacher asks frantically, running over to the boy on the ground.

"Yeah." He says, trying to get up and look tough. I could take him down any day. I have the urge to give him another swing, see what he's got. I decide not to, I don't want to get into deeper trouble, my mother is going to be very upset.

The blond boy grabs a tissue and holds it to his nose.

"All of you, down to the office!" The teacher yells sternly.

Even though my friends were just trying to help, they trudge down to the principal's office with me. They truly are the best. Aside from Katniss.

The two boys that were making bets follow closely behind us, with our teacher to make sure we don't break out into brawl again.

"What was that about?" Zeke asks me, quietly, so the boys behind us don't hear.

"Katniss." I say, that being all the explanation needed.

We head into the office and my teacher summarizes the situation to the principal.

"Well, come in, boys." The principal says. "Now, let's hear all the sides of the story."

The friend of the bleeding boy speaks up.

"We were just talking and he" The boy points to me. "Just punched him."

"Really?" The principal says, shooting me a convicting stare.

"I heard them talking about my best friend." I say. Then it all spills out. "Katniss Everdeen. They were making bets on how long she'd last in the arena, saying only a few days. So I… I guess I punched him…"

I'm surprised that I kept a calm voice and only said that much. If I said what was bursting to get out right now, I'd be laying the vast contents of my mind out on the principal's desk, and that wouldn't be enough space.

"That gives you no right to harm another student." The principal warns.

"I know-it's just-

The principal cuts me off.

"I hear that your teachers are worried about you, is this why?" He says.

I take a deep breath. I need to get as much sympathy as possible if I don't want this on my permanent record, which would lower the chances of me getting a good job. I decide to play this nicely. This can be set up like a snare. I'm good with traps. I take a deep breath.

"Yes." I say. "I've been having a really tough time, my best friend being tribute and all. Also, I've been having a tough time feeding my family, and my friend's family. It's just all so…so… stressful."

The only thing that would perfect my speech would be bursting into tears. I can't do that on command so I rub my eyes and look down, trying to appear sad and embarrassed. So far, so good. I've put up the trap, I just have to wait for the prey to get caught.

The principal sighs.

"I suppose that is tough, but this can go unpunished." He says. "This will not be on your permanent record, but we will tell your parents and give you one hour detention for a week, starting today."

The detention will cut off on my hunting time, but it's a pretty good deal.

"Thank you." I say.

"Now, why are you three here?" The principal asks my friends.

"We tried to break up the fight." Cormack says.

"Is that true?" The principal asks.

We all nod. It would be nice having my friends with me in detention, but I don't want to get them in trouble.

"You may all go, you to the nurse." The principal nods at the boy I punched. "And you, Mr. Hawthorne, have to come to my office after class or your detentions will be expanded."

I nod and we all head off.

"Man, you got lucky." Zeke says once we're out of the room.

"I know." I reply.

I'm still going to have to deal with my mother, but that will come later.

"Do you want me to tell Rory and Vick that you're in detention?" Cormack asks.

"Yes, tell them I'll be going to work afterwards, too." I say.

Cormack nods. He knows what kind of 'work' I mean.

I go to my locker and gather my stuff. People point and me and whisper, turning away when I look at them, as if I might punch them too. I really do want to punch them because they act like I can't tell that they're afraid. I'm a hunter, I can sense fear. Everybody here is full of it.

I slam my locker door, which makes a few kids jump. I head to the principal's office and a few kids move out of my way.

I sigh as I walk reluctantly into the principal's office.

"Take a seat, Mr. Hawthorne." the principal says. He motions me to the seat I sat in earlier today.

"What will you have me do?" I ask. I've hear of kids cleaning, writing essays, you name it. What kind of punishment will I get for actually punching a kid?

"First, we're going to have a talk." the principal says with one of those smiles that clearly states "I'm better than you, you're in trouble, you made a mistake". I hate it when teachers give me that smile.

I really want to say something back at the principal, but I don't want to ruin my good luck.

"You are legally an adult, Mr. Hawthorne, we could have given you much more serious punishment, but since you have an outstanding record, and under the circumstances, we'll allow you to get away with this just this one time." The principal says. "However, one more action of violence out of you and this can be taken into the law. Understand?"

I nod.

"Yes, of course." I say. I would address him as 'sir', but I don't want to push my luck.

"Now, I want you to follow the instructions on this sheet and return this to me at the end of the hour." the principal says, handing me a paper.

"What if I finish?" I ask.

"Work on your homework." the principal instructs.

I nod again and read the directions on my sheet. I have to write a three paragraph essay on misdirected violence and/or anger. I sigh and get to work. I don't want to sound too unenthusiastic, but I don't want to sound so detailed and perfect that it seems like a joke. Again, I need to work this snare perfectly.

Minutes tick by until I read my essay for the final time and hand it in.

"Fifteen minutes left, Mr. Hawthorne, use your time wisely." the principal says.

I head back to my desk and work on homework. Well, at least I'm getting part of this out of the way so I don't have to worry about it all at home. My stomach flips as I wonder what my mother will say.

"Time's up, don't forget to come back tomorrow." the principal says.

I gather my things together before asking a final question.

"How many more detentions do I have?" I ask.

"Five." the principal replies.

"Okay. Bye." I say, heading out of the door.

Five more days that I will be late hunting. Five more damn days.

I try to brush the thought off my shoulders as I head to the woods. I climb safely under the fence and into the forest. The cool breeze rustles through my hair and I try to savor this moment on freedom. This is where I'd usually meet up with Katniss and tell her all about my day and my detentions. This is where she'd listen and tell me her problems. This is where I would find just a few hours of serenity and fun. But not now.

I try to discard my troubles check all of the snares as quickly as I can. I return with two rabbits and a turkey. Not the best hunting day, not the worst. Then, I go and try to gather as many berries and greens as possible. I leave for the Hob when the sun is setting.

"Gale, you're a little later than usual." Greasy Sae remarks as I enter the black market.

"Yes I am." I reply as I trade with her.

"Why is that?" Greasy Sae asks.

"I got a detention." I reply shortly. I really don't feel like confiding in anyone right now.

Greasy Sae takes some herbs in exchange for a pot of soup.

"Did you get in trouble?" She asks. "I wouldn't doubt that, kid, you're a born rebel."

"I punched a kid." I say, slightly embarrassed. I don't know if I should take being called a rebel as a compliment or not. I decide that living in Panem, I do want to be a rebel.

Greasy Sae smiles, rather than being concerned.

"Why?" Greasy Sae asks.

This woman is full of questions.

"He made me mad." I say simply. Greasy Sae raises her eyebrows.

"I sure wish I could punch someone every time I was mad." She says.

"He was talking about Katniss." I snap, contradicting the whole essay I wrote in detention.

I finish up my trades and head for home in a bad mood. On top of everything, today wasn't a particularly good haul.

"There you are!" my mother says as I get home.

"Here I am." I say under my breath. "And here it comes."

My mother runs over to me.

"Gale Hawthorne! You _punched _another boy!" She says with disbelief.

"Yeah, I know." I say, hanging my head slightly.

"Why on earth?" She asks.

"They were talking about Katniss and I…I… I just lost control." I admit.

"Oh, Gale." My mother moans.

"Please don't punish me, I've got detention for a week." I say, only feeling slightly ashamed.

My mother looks at me.

"For a week, that's all?" She asks.

"Yeah," I say. "They minimized the punishment because of the circumstances. You know, how I'm kind of depressed since my best friend is going to be fighting, literally, for her life and the other boys were talking about it in…well..."

I try to finish 'in not the most pleasing way' but I can't manage it.

"Like they were total…!" I refrain myself from swearing because my little sister is in the room. Instead, I pound my fist on the table and my mother jerks back in alarm.

I slowly fall into a chair and my mother rushes over to me.

"I know…I know." She says soothingly, stroking my shoulder.

Overcome with a mix of sadness and hostility, I stare at the wall.

"I can take the trades over to the Everdeens." Rory offers.

"Okay." I say. Since there's no dead animals in the haul, I let Rory take it over. Had I not traded at the Hob, I wouldn't risk Rory being caught.

Rory eagerly bounds over and picks up the Everdeens share. He goes out the door as my mother yells one final thing.

"Be back within the hour!" she says.

"Okay!" Rory replies, shutting the door.

"Honey, I'm not proud of you for this, but I know it's hard." my mother says quietly.

I nod. Head motions are easier emotionally than verbally agreeing, just in case there's a hint of sadness in my voice. I don't know why I want to conceal this from my own mother, but for some reason I feel insecure exposing this to anybody. I'm the man of my house, I'm supposed to be tough. I've legally been an adult for a few months, but I've been an adult since I was thirteen, when my father died. I don't want to act like a child.

"It's okay to cry sometimes." my mother says.

A tear falls down my cheek not just because of Katniss. My mother said these same words, in the exact same voice after my father died.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The day after you punch one of the most popular boys in school is a very interesting one. Here at school today, I've been attracting a lot of attention, positive as well as negative. Kids who hated the boy I punched (I found out his name was Clay) and never had the guts to give him what he deserved, look up to and congratulate me. Others who were Clay's friends give me icy glares and other livid signals of hate. There are some kids who just walk by, scared and in awe. My friends, rather than being worried about me, are thrilled. What would Katniss think?

It hurts me to think of what Katniss is doing right now. She's probably in training. The tributes have some days to train in a training area together. I wonder if Katniss will show off her archery skills in training. I sure hope she doesn't, because then the other tributes will see her strengths and use them against her. Or, they'll seek Katniss out as a threat and kill her quickly.

What if the boy I punched was right? What if Katniss only lasts a few days in the arena? Her death would be unbearable and frighteningly irrevocable. How could I watch the rest of the games? I'd want Peeta to win then because the district of the winning tribute gets sent food. It would be so nice to see all of the starving children with food. I've never lived to see a District 12 tribute win the games, but I hope to this year.

"She's cute, isn't she?"

"What?" I snap back into the real world. I look around me. Zeke is pointing at Ginger from my homeroom.

"Oh, yeah." I say. "She's in my homeroom."

"Dang, you're lucky." Zeke says, staring at Ginger as she walks away. "Do you think I could come to your homeroom sometime?"

"Yeah, maybe." I reply. Now is not the time to tell Zeke that Ginger is interested in me.

Then, I see my English teacher striding over to me.

"Looks like somebody wants a word with you." Cormack says, walking away with Zeke.

I want to tell them not to leave me here, but I decide not to. I take a breath and get ready to face my teacher.

"Gale." he says. He doesn't need to say anything more, he knows about Katniss. Rumors must be getting around to the students and the teachers about the fight I was in.

"Yeah?" I ask, faking ignorance.

My teacher senses the falseness in my voice.

"I didn't know she was your friend." he says softly.

I try to make something come out of my mouth but I can't find a response, so I just nod.

"I'm so sorry." my English teacher says.

What is this? I don't want any sympathy, I just want to get away from my teacher because this is too awkward and I have to get to detention.

"I understand why you're zoning out in class, if you want to make up any assignments you certainly can." my teacher says.

I shake my head. I certainly would like to make up some work, but what time do I have? I've got detention on top of feeding two families and the homework I already have.

"I have a busy life." I say. "I'll try harder in my classes. I promise."

"If you ever change your mind, you can come talk to me." my teacher says.

I nod and my English teacher walks away. I hate it when people try to reach out to me, if I don't want to reach out to the other person. I know my teacher is just trying to do his job and be nice, but to be candid, I just want to be left alone. Katniss is already on my mind most of the day, I don't need constant reminders of her. Now, whenever I look at my English teacher, I'll be forced to remember Katniss and what she's going through.

I gather my school supplies and head of to detention.

"That's him! Gale!" A kid shouts as I walk past him. I don't even know this kid's name and he knows me. "Way to go, bud!"

I don't return the kid's eager smile.

"Be quiet, maybe he'll punch you, too." one of the girls the first boy is with whispers just a little too loudly.

"I'm not deaf, and with that comment, you might be the one with a fist in your face." I say as I walk away. I don't really mean it, but I'm annoyed and older than both the other kids.

Nobody talks to me the rest of the way back to detention. I go into the principal's office to find the gray haired man sitting at his desk, looking as if he's been waiting for me.

"Hello, Gale." he says with the same smile that I despise so much. I just have an intuition that I don't like this principal, and that's enough reason for me.

"Hello." I reply warmly, concealing my hatred.

"Today, we are going to help clean up." The principal says. By "we" he means me.

Our school can't afford fancy machinery that the Capitol possesses, so we have to clean the school with mops and brooms.

"Okay then." I say.

The principal leads me to the hallways where I'm to mop and sweep. Katniss would probably laugh if she saw me right now.

The hour goes by and I continue to clean the school hallways. The foamy soap I use smells horrible in excessive amounts. It stings my nose when I breathe it in. I do have to admit, I now have more appreciation for our school janitors.

"Time's up, Gale." the principal says with a smile. "Are you more grateful for our school's clean up crew?"

"Yes." I say.

"You may go." the principal says.

I leave the school, still smelling of soap. I head to the woods and disappear into the trees. I need someone to talk to, but I have nobody. My mother won't understand my emotions, my siblings don't need to hear bad things about the Capitol for their safety's sake and all of my friends won't understand me. If only Katniss were here, I could talk to her. If she were here, I wouldn't need anybody to talk to.

I check all of my snares, finding two rabbits, a raccoon and a squirrel. I quickly gather fruits and greens until I mentally declare that I have enough food.

I head down to the Hob to make my trades. Hunting is tedious without Katniss. I have to do it though, its hunt or die. I will not taking dying for an answer. I hope Katniss doesn't either.

On my way home, I spot a Peacekeeper that I don't recognize. My body goes rigid, but then I relax. If I can just look like I have no reason to be guilty, then maybe I can get by.

The Peacekeeper stares at me as I walk home. What should I do? If I quicken my pace, I'll look like I have something to hide. If I smile and wave, then I'll look like I'm trying to hard to seem innocent, therefore, making me look guilty. I decide to just keep walking, seeming without a care, even though my head is buzzing. Finally, I reach home safe.

"Gale?" my mother asks as I open the door.

"Yes?" I reply.

My mother turns around, glancing at my haul. I unload the contents of my bag on the counter, as always.

"How'd school go?" my mother asks.

"Fine." I say, knowing that when my mother says, "How'd school go?" she really means, "So, how did all the kids react to you after you punched a kid?"

Quickly, I sort the food so I can get some to the Everdeens. When I leave, I decide to take a different route to the Everdeens' place, so I don't get caught by the Peacekeeper I ran into on the way home.

As Prim opens the door, I watch the Everdeens' cat scurry out of the house. Its name is Buttercup, and it is the ugliest cat I've ever laid eyes on. I wonder why Katniss even kept it, but then I know it's because of Prim. Prim probably begged and pleaded to keep the animal, like she would. Of course, Katniss couldn't resist Prim, even though the cat was another mouth to feed. A smile splits my face as I remember that Katniss told me she tried to drown the cat.

"Buttercup!" Prim calls.

I turn around and scoop the mess of fur into my arms. Buttercup hisses and I get showered with cat spit.

"Here you go." I say, handing Prim the cat.

Buttercup stops hissing at once when he's in Prim's arms. That's how likeable Prim is.

"Here's your food." I say, setting the Everdeens' share of the haul in their house.

I turn and leave as Prim shuts the door with a 'thank you'. I wonder how many times I'll be doing this all summer.

The next day follows my regular schedule. Wake up. Eat. Walk to school. Tune out in class. Go to detention. Hunt. Homework. Eat. Sleep.

It's the next day that provides some interest. When I wake up, I know that everybody will be buzzing about tonight. Tonight when the training scores will be premiered on television.

Each contestant in the Hunger Games gets a few days of training before they are evaluated. Then, one by one, they go in privately to the training arena and get scored by judges and game makers. The contestants are scored on a scale of 1-12. Getting a one is horrible, rarely anybody ever gets as low as a one. Getting a twelve is astounding. I've never seen anybody get a twelve on their training score, and I don't want to see Katniss getting one.

As much as it is entertaining to get a high score, it can really come back to haunt you. If you have a low score, nobody will want to sponsor you. Sponsors send you items that you need in the games, for prices that go up escalate from day to day. But, if you have a low score, other competitors might forget about you, and therefore, you might be safe for a while. Obtaining a high training score will have sponsors rushing to help you out, but the rest of the tributes might find you as a threat and kill you right away. So either way, your training score both helps and hurts you.

It's finally Saturday, and I don't have to head to school. This means that I get to take advantage of this surplus of time and hunt for extra food.

I wake up bright and early to head to the woods, packing myself a lunch, because I won't be back in time to eat with the family. Then, I head to the woods. I begin hunting once I've gone under the dormant fence and deep into the forest. I check the snares first, picking up two rabbits, a turkey, and a squirrel. Then, I decide to fish at the lake.

I wonder if Katniss had time to just sit and think. What's the Capitol like? I've only seen parts of the Capitol in clips from the previous Hunger Games, but being there would probably be amazing, and horrifying. I wonder if Katniss is filled with awe or abhorrence when she stares out at the huge city. Does she even have time to admire or loathe it?

I end up catching seven fish before I leave my post and decide to gather food. I pick strawberries, which I've given some time to grow. Then, I grab herbs and greens. Finally, I make a stop at a plum tree. I pop one of the round purple fruits in my mouth and savor the sweetness. I pick many more and decide to make trades so I will be back by supper, and in time to see the tribute training scores.

My muscles tighten and I walk faster. There's no point really in getting nervous, if Katniss gets a bad score, I'll be scared to death, if she gets a good score, I'll still be scared to death. Regardless of my common sense, I'm still anxious.

I make my trades as quickly as I can, so I can get home soon. I don't want to miss a second of the premiere of the tribute scores. Once I'm done giving the Everdeens their share, I jog out, I get home just in time. Right as I burst through the door, my mother tells me.

"It's on."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

I find a spot on the couch between my mother and Posy. They left a space for me, knowing I would come in time.

The television switches from commercial to a snap shot of the Capitol. From now until the program is over, I won't be able to breathe.

I watch the introduction, and it goes by agonizingly slowly. I just want to watch Katniss, but being from District 12, and being a girl, she will go dead last. I'm just that lucky. Not.

Most of the Career pack does well, scoring at around eight through ten. The small girl from District 11 gets a seven. As I look at the petite child, I wonder what she does that's so impressive. Small people can shock you in the Hunger Games, though twelve year olds rarely ever win. It's happened, but it's not likely. Finally, it's District 12's turn. Peeta Mellark scores and eight, which makes me uncomfortable for some reason. I don't want Katniss to have any competition. I wonder if Katniss will try to become allies with Peeta, or if they will just be enemies. People make alliances a lot in the Hunger Games, but often times, people go back on their words and kill their 'ally'. It must really be tough knowing that one of you is going to die, but I can't imagine killing somebody who put so much trust in you. Of course, the Hunger Games changes a person. My stomach does a series of nauseating twists. If she survives, will the Hunger Games change my best friend? I know the answer, but I wish I don't.

"There she goes!" Vick yells.

I almost jump out of my seat when Katniss's name flashes on the screen. Katniss Everdeen. It's so surreal to see my best friend's name on television. But what's even more shocking than seeing Katniss's name, is looking at the number underneath it. Eleven.

My heart sinks and I don't know why. Eleven? I can't have seen the screen right.

"Eleven!" Rory exclaims before I have the chance to process the number.

Eleven. My mind is blank. I must've seen the television right, unless I heard Rory wrong also, which would be highly unlikely. I thought Katniss would do well, but not _that_ well.

"I can't believe it!" my mother says. "Eleven!"

I just sit there, gaping. What did Katniss do in that training session? She is an excellent archer, so I guess I can't be that surprised.

"Way to go, Catnip." I say inaudibly. "Eleven. It's not a twelve, but that's still good."

Then, I know why I'm worried. All of the tributes are going to be out to get Katniss. First, with her stealing all of the glory when she was on fire, and now, scoring higher than anybody else on the training scores. A smile comes to my face despite how I feel. You just can't not notice Katniss.

As the program concludes, my mother hurries to the kitchen to fix our extremely late dinner. We eat dinner in silence until Posy speaks up.

"Katniss got higher than everyone!" she announces. "Does that mean she's gonna win?"

I say "Yes" at the same time my mother says. "Not necessarily." Posy gives us a confused look as we exchange awkward glances.

"Maybe." Rory says, clearing things up for Posy.

I really wish it were true, that the person with the highest score is guaranteed to win. That's not the way it works, though.

When I'm done with supper, I head to my room to do schoolwork. Sunday is tomorrow, and that is usually my big hunting day. Sunday is also the day of the tribute interview, and the day before the Hunger Games, truly begin.

Finally, it's late and I want to get some sleep, knowing that I will have to get up really early tomorrow. I climb in bed, knowing that falling asleep isn't something that will come quickly.

I shudder as I think that Katniss could be dead the day after tomorrow. And I never got the chance to tell her everything, but it's not entirely my fault. It's not my fault that Prim's name was chosen out of the reaping ball, it's not my fault that Katniss volunteered, but it is my fault for never telling Katniss how I feel. The problem is, I never knew for sure how I felt until it was too late.

I think of the first time I ever met Katniss, and then of what could be the last time I'll ever see her.

The first time I met Katniss, I was fourteen. I had been feeding my family by myself for a year, and we were struggling. Every day, I went out to hunt alone. That day was a particularly good hunting day. I was checking my twitch-up snares when I heard somebody coming. Scared, I hid behind a tree. I really had no weapons to take out a person with, so I just sat and waited.

That's when Katniss came into view. I watched as the skinny twelve year old stumbled up to my snares. She had a squirrel with her, and I wondered how she had killed it, considering I only saw my snares in the woods. At first I didn't recognize Katniss, then I realized that she lost her father in the same mine explosion that had killed my dad.

Katniss touched the rabbit that dangled at the end of one of my snares, studying the trap. I had three rabbits already, and more to come, but I wasn't going to let Katniss take any of my food.

"That's dangerous." I said, coming out from behind my tree.

Katniss jumped backwards and her grey eyes widened, just like a scared animal. I was really tall and I probably looked a bit older than fourteen, so Katniss had every right to be afraid. I looked older than fourteen, and in my mind, I was older than fourteen. Katniss was older than twelve, also. Most twelve and fourteen year olds don't break laws to go out and try to feed their starving family. Most twelve and fourteen year olds aren't the leader of their house.

"What's your name?" I asked, demonstrating my unconcern by walking over to my snare and taking off the rabbit.

"Catnip." I heard Katniss say in a voice so quiet that I could barely hear her.

_Catnip, _I remember thinking, _What a weird name._

"Well, Catnip, stealing's punishable by death, or hadn't you heard?" I asked. It was meant to be ironic considering that we were both hunting, which is also punishable by death.

"Katniss." Katniss said louder. "And I wasn't stealing it. I just wanted to look at your snare. Mine never catch anything."

I scowled. I thought that she was lying. If she had the audacity to hunt for food and break the law, stealing a rabbit to feed her family would be nothing to her. I remember thinking that luckily I was there to stop her. I didn't think that luckily I was there to meet my best friend.

I glanced at the squirrel she had with her. I thought she had probably stolen that from one of my snares, too.

"So where'd you get the squirrel?" I asked, hoping to watch Katniss fumble with words because she had stolen it from me.

"I shot it." Katniss said without hesitation, taking her bow off her shoulder.

I stared at the bow. It was smaller than a regular sized bow, but clearly effective. The squirrel was pierced right in its eye, that's when I knew Katniss was a true archer.

"Can I see that?" I asked.

Katniss handed me her bow.

"Just remember, stealing's punishable by death." she said.

I smiled. I hate having my words used against me, but I had to give Katniss credit for that one. It had been a long time since I smiled and then was when I remembered how nice it felt.

We started to talk about hunting. We wanted to trade. Not just food, things we knew, weapons, strategies. We agreed that something might work. She might give me a bow if I showed her how to set good snares. Time went by and we taught each other many things. Katniss taught me how to shoot, and I taught her snares and fishing. Katniss eventually gave me one of her father's bows. We shared secret spots where certain foods were plentiful, and gradually, we gained each other's trust. One day, we just became partners, friends, sort of like family. We hunted together and made sure that each of our families got food.

Hunting with Katniss is so much better than hunting alone. Over the years, Katniss became so important to me, I can't even explain it. Somehow, she filled the empty spot that had been torn away from me when my father died. She didn't replace my father, I loved Katniss in a different way. Katniss and I have an irrevocable, unbreakable bond that I can't describe. And now she might be gone.

My body shakes, threatening to sob. I'm not going to cry though, I've never been a big person for tears. I want to be with Katniss, and I don't care if that means one of us will die. I want to be with her so I can tell her how I feel, and so I can make sure that she comes out of the arena alive.

I think of the last time I saw Katniss. That was in the visiting room. I talked to her but I never was able to admit to her what she is to me. I was just about to when the time ran out. If only they had let me stay a few seconds longer, if only they had let me finish my sentence, if only I had fought a little harder for Katniss. She deserves to know everything I want to say to her. She doesn't deserve to die in the arena, with twenty two other innocent children.

Katniss was, Katniss _is _the person I go to when I have something to say that nobody else can hear. She understands what I'm going through. She's with me when I'm broken, and she stands with me at my best. Katniss Everdeen is the only girl in the world who can make me smile.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

At the crack of dawn, I'm up and ready to hunt. Silently, I creep to the kitchen so I can make myself a lunch for when I'm in the woods. It's Sunday. The day Katniss and I usually spend gathering as much food as we possibly can to keep our families going for the week. Sunday is hard, but having your best friend there beside you lightens the load immensely.

Katniss. Everything reminds me of her around here, and I don't want to think of her at all. Walking through town, I wish Katniss was there. Going to school, well, Katniss would be going to school also. When I go by the Everdeens' place, of course Katniss is all I can think about. Going hunting alone makes me miss her more than ever. It's not just that I have a newly discovered affection for Katniss, it's that everywhere I go, something triggers her memory.

I wriggle under the loose spot in the fence that surrounds the woods. It's only ever been charged a few times. And when it is, I'm either on the inside and decide not to go hunting. Or, I'm on the outside and I just wait calmly in the woods until I'm able to leave.

Then I wonder, _Which way is the outside after all? _

Inside District 12 was always the inside to me, but it really could be the outside. I'm outside of the real world, trapped here. But then maybe it's the inside after all, I'm trapped inside this cold, desperate place. My jaw clenches. Someday there won't be an inside or outside, like there will be no Capitol. Someday these damn fences will be torn down and people won't starve. There will be no Hunger Games and I will be there to make sure of that.

My footsteps get carelessly heavier as my mind steams. I'm supposed to be light footed, which I usually am. I just lost track of where I was. It's easy to do that. To lose yourself as you get caught up in rising hatred for the Capitol.

I try to shake it all off and get on task. I need to focus, more than I do in school. I check my snares, which takes about an hour. From that, I get four rabbits, a squirrel and one small turkey. Then, I try to gather berries. Strawberries have grown back, so I pick as many as I can. Time passes as I gather more berries and herbs. Sometimes I wish everybody would hunt so nobody would starve. But is there enough food for everybody in the woods? Probably not, and the Capitol would surely catch us. As cold as it sounds, I care about myself and my family more than other people, even though I wish the best for them too. Probably deep down in almost every human we are all flawed and think that way. I'm no exception.

A twig snaps and I turn around, pulling out my bow. A bear emerges from the bushes, five yards away from me. My body tenses, and I raise my bow. I've never had to take down a bear and I don't think I can. Not alone.

Though scared, my mind tries to remain logical and process what I should do. If I run, there's a chance the bear would just want berries and leave me. But if it chases after me, I will be dead for sure. If I climb a tree, the bear could follow me easily. If I shoot the bear, I probably won't kill it and it would be mad. A mad bear is not something I want to be around.

My heartbeat quickens but I remain still, calloused on the outside as I usually am. I can't die. If I die then Katniss's family would die as well as mine. There wouldn't be forgiveness for that.

Slowly, I back away, bow still drawn so I can shoot if I need to. I hope the bear gets the message that I mean no harm unless I have to.

The bear steps closer and I freeze. This is it. The moment that decides whether I live or die.

The bear turns toward a berry bush and begins to feed.

My muscles relax a bit, but I still keep watch as I head far away from this area. It's not over yet. It's not over until I'm long gone and the bear forgets about me.

I make it to the fishing lake and then I feel safer than before. Still, I don't want to let go of my bow. It's my best protection and I don't feel completely safe without it. I must exchange my bow for my fishing pole, but the bow lies beside me as I fish.

After a few hours, I've caught seven fish. They're not all big, but they'll do for a meal. Any food I can get is better than not getting food.

For the remainder of the time, I go out to gather food again. I manage to shoot a squirrel. When I pick it up, I look at its punctured side and remember how Katniss can shoot them right through the eye so she kills them quickly and doesn't damage their pelt. If only I could shoot like her.

By the time I'm read to leave, I have four rabbits, two squirrels, a small turkey, seven fish, strawberries, some other berries and fruits, and some herbs and greens.

As I go back into District 12, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to be stuck in the woods permanently, isolated from the rest of the world. Oddly, that might be nice. Never having to deal with the Capitol, or school, or the mines. But then my family would starve. I could never let that happen.

I go to the Hob and make my trades, hoping I have enough food for a while. What's it like to have a surplus of food? To be able to eat more than you need and throw away the leftovers? I'll probably never know.

I head to the Mayor's house to sell strawberries, since he loves strawberries and always gives generous trades. I feel uncomfortable as I walk to the house and I don't know why until I've already knocked on the door.

"Hello, Gale." Madge says as she opens the door of their huge house.

I'm going to have to face Madge alone, I task I don't want to do. I've never known her until I met Katniss, and we've never had any particular fondness towards each other since then. The more I think about it, it's strange how two people can dislike each other just because of what they have and what they don't have. Because of their living conditions. Because of their differences. Is that how shallow we human beings really are? Either way, just because my life is hard, I can't help it. I can't help but feel bitter towards Madge. Even when I realize how stupid and pointless it is, I'm always going to feel that way.

"Hey, Madge." I say.

Madge glances at my strawberries.

"Are you here to make trades?" she asks.

I nod.

Madge disappears into the house, leaving the door open. I stand still on the steps up to her front door. She comes back with some bread and some money.

"Here, will this do?" she asks.

"Yes." I say, handing Madge the strawberries and taking her trade.

"Bye." I say, turning around.

"Wait!" I hear Madge say.

I stop dead in my tracks and wheel around.

"What?" I ask. Can't I just leave and go home? I didn't even feel comfortable to come in the first place.

Madge pauses a moment, looking desperate to say something.

"Good luck." she says.

I'm silent for a few seconds. Good luck for what?

"Thanks, you too." I say tentatively.

I turn around and keep walking as I hear Madge's door close.

What was that about? Good luck? What can that mean? Good luck with Katniss in the Hunger Games, or good luck with feeding seven people? Or can it be good luck for something else? Right now, any other possibilities elude me.

Once I'm finished with my trades I head home. I'm not going to tell my mother about the bear, she doesn't need another reason to worry. Not with her work and four hungry children. Knowing that I'm not completely safe isn't going to help her.

"How was the hunt, today, Gale?" my mother asks as I walk through the door.

"Good." I say. I did get a lot of food.

Rory bounds into the kitchen.

"I'll take the food to the Everdeens' house again." he offers.

I really don't want my younger brother to get stopped by a Peacekeeper, but I'm tired and most of the Peacekeepers buy our food, so I probably don't have to worry.

"Okay, but if you're not back in an hour, I'm coming after you." I say, plopping into a chair.

Rory nods and takes the food that my mother set aside. He leaves the house and a knot of worry tangles up in my stomach.

"He'll be fine." my mother tries to reassure me. "No Peacekeeper would stop and check an eleven year old boy."

It's not true. They might, but my mother is trying to comfort both of us with lies. It never really works.

"If they do, it'll probably be Darius or somebody who knows us." my mother continues.

Darius is on of the many Peacekeepers who buy from us. He's young and always likes to joke around.

Half an hour later Rory is back with some goat milk and cheese from Prim. We eat dinner and I rest until the Hunger Games will be on. It's only the tribute interviews, but tomorrow the real games begin. The sad thing is that with school and hunting, I won't be able to spend every waking moment by the television like I want to. I don't want to watch the Hunger Games, I never do, but I want to be with Katniss every minute of the way.

"Gale! The interviews are starting!" my mother calls from the living room.

I spring out of my bed and hurry out to the living room.

I watch as the tributes come onstage. There's Katniss. She's in a dress, which is strange to see because I never see Katniss in dresses except on reaping day occasionally. Her dress is extraordinary. Covered with sparkling gems, it's the color of fire. Dazzling red, yellow and orange, Katniss looks amazing. Fire must be her theme for her this year.

"Look at that dress!" my mother gasps.

I smile. I never thought I'd see Katniss all made up, dressed so fancy and on television. Of course, it would be amazing if it wasn't like this.

Katniss takes a seat in the half circle of chairs that the rest of the tributes sit in. I know she's nervous and she has every right to be. She's on television and basically the whole country is watching. This could make her gain or lose sponsors.

The man who has hosted the interview for many years, Caser Flickerman, pops up on the stage. He always looks the same except for a change of hair color each year. This year his hair is a blue color with matching makeup. He's probably been through lots of surgery, hoping to look young. Many of the Capitol people surgically alter their appearance, to them it's normal. They want to look young and skinny. Here in District 12, you pride being old. It means you've survived a lot. And being fat means you're doing well. It's strange how different two places can be when they're part of the same country. I never want to be part of anything that includes the Capitol.

Each interview only lasts three minutes. Caesar Filckerman is pretty good about making the tributes seem desirable. He lightens the mood with a lot of laughing and he always tries to get out the best in the tributes. I wonder what it's like to talk to hundreds of kids when you know that most of them are going to die. I'd be scarred for the rest of my life.

The interviews pass, starting with District 1. The girls come on first this time. The girl from District 1 is named Glimmer. District 1 always has weird names. She's in a see through golden dress that matches her flowing hair. I have to admit, I am slightly turned on. But I know that's just what she wants. She's trying to look sexy to attract sponsors. Most tributes have some sort of theme they want to portray to help them in any way possible. Some people make it work, some people don't. I try to pick out what each person is trying to do. I want to find their strengths and weaknesses, but it doesn't matter. I won't be able to relay any information to Katniss.

Interviews pass and I see possible threats. A huge boy from District 2 looks like he's been waiting for this moment for years. A girl from District 5 with a long face and red hair looks like she could be dangerous. I don't know why, but I just have a bad feeling about her.

It's the crippled boy from District 10's turn. He seems very shy and quiet. It seems wrong, but I count him out already. Without being able to walk or run properly, there's not a chance he can win. It's so unfair. Putting kids in an arena to kill each other isn't exactly fair either, but this boy is disabled. They're sending him to his sure death.

Then, right when I think I'm beginning to cool down, they send out the twelve year old girl from District 11. She flutters up to Caesar Flickerman in a dress with wings attached. She seems so small, so innocent. How could the Capitol put anyone through this? My fists are clenched and my jaw tightens. I hate this.

The little girl's name is Rue. Most people count her out, but when Caser Flickerman asks her what her greatest strength in the arena will be, she's quick to answer.

"I'm very hard to catch." she says in a quavering voice. "And if they can't catch me, they can't kill me. So don't count me out."

"I never would in a million years." Caesar Flickerman says.

Neither would I. And that's what makes me scared. I have to watch all these people that I don't want to die, and they have to die if Katniss returns. All of them. The crippled boy, the tiny girl, all of them will have to die if I want my best friend back. And I want Katniss back more than anything.

The boy from District 11 is big and burly. His name is Thresh. Even that sounds intimidating. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in the Career pack. He scored and ten in training, the only thought that calms me is that his training score is not as high as Katniss's. But that means nothing.

They call Katniss's name and she heads up to the front of the stage. Katniss has never been great with people, so I'm anxious to see how this plays out.

Katniss shakes Caesar Flickerman's hand and the interview begins.

"So, Katniss, the Capitol must be quite a change from District Twelve. What's impressed you most since you arrived here?" Caesar asks.

There is a small pause. I don't know what I want Katniss to say. Half of me wants her to rebel against the Capitol and do something dramatic. But the other half of me wants her to play it safe, so she can come back to District 12 alive.

"The lamb stew." Katniss says.

I laugh, along with Caesar and some of the audience. I know it's true though, Katniss had probably been very well fed since she arrived in the Capitol. That seems to be the only good thing about being a tribute.

"The one with the dried plumbs?" asks Caesar. Katniss nods. "Oh, I eat it by the bucketful. It doesn't show, does it?" Caser puts his hand on his stomach and the audience tries to shout their reassurances. At least some people are having fun with this.

"Now, Katniss." Caesar says. "When you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think of that costume?"

"You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive." Katniss asks.

I laugh again, with a bigger laugh from the Capitol audience. It's so good to hear Katnis's voice again.

"Yes. Start then." Caesar says.

"I thought Cinna was brilliant and it was the most gorgeous costume I'd ever seen and I couldn't believe I was wearing it. I can't believe I'm wearing this either." Katniss says, lifting up her skirt to spread it out. "I mean, look at it!"

The audience let out gasps of joy. Her dress is magnificent.

Katniss twirls, gems dancing around her as if she was circled by flames. The audience cheers.

"Oh, do that again!" says Caesar.

Katniss twirls again, showing off her glorious dress. She looks like she's engulfed in flames. It's magnificent. Her stylist must be a real good one, well, he is compared to most of the stylists that tributes get assigned.

"Don't stop!" Caesar cheers.

"I have to, I'm dizzy!" Katniss giggles.

Giggles? I don't recall ever hearing Katniss giggle.

Caesar wraps an arm around Katniss. Suddenly, my smile fades. I don't like it when people do that.

"Don't worry, I've got you. Can't have you following in your mentor's footsteps." Caesar says.

The cameras focus on Haymitch, who waves and points them all back to Katniss.

"It's all right." Caesar says to the crowd. "She's safe with me. So, how about that training score. E-le-ven. Give us a hint what happened in there."

Talk about the trainings are restricted.

Katniss looks somewhere far off and bites her lip.

"Um… all I can say, is that I think it was a first." she says.

The cameras switch to the Gamemakers, who are laughing and nodding. What did Katniss do in there?

"You're killing us." Caesar says as if he is in some kind of anguish. "Details. Details."

"I'm not supposed to talk about it, right?" Katniss says.

"She's not!" a Gamemaker shouts.

"Thank you." Katniss says. "Sorry. My lips are sealed."

I let out a sigh mixed with relief and disappointment. I really want to know what went on in the training, but I don't want Katniss to ruin her chances in survival.

"Let's go back then, to the moment they called your sister's name in the reaping." says Caesar.

No, not that moment. I hate that moment. First came the shock and confusion. Then, the understanding that Katniss would be gone.

Caesar turns quiet. "And you volunteered. Can you tell us about her?"

Prim. What is she thinking right now? She's crying, probably. Or maybe she's done enough of that in the past week that there are no more tears to fall. Either way, I lean in to hear what Katniss has to say about Prim. Will she lie on television, because I know she loves Prim more than anything?

"Her name's Prim. She's just twelve. And I love her more than anything." Katniss says.

The Capitol is deathly quiet, as are many of the houses probably that are watching the program. How heartless can the Gamemakers be? Can something like this finally make them turn around? No, they are too cold, too evil, too indifferent. They've all become immune to death after sending child after child into the arena and watching them die. Was it hard at first to see them die? And then murder became more addicting and less painful with each kid dead?

"What did she say to you? After the reaping?" Caesar asks.

What kind of question is that? I would consider that personal, something I would want to keep only to myself, not for the whole world to see and analyze. But, this may be touching and gain Katniss sponsors. Anything to make my best friend win.

"She asked me to try really hard to win." Katniss says.

Good. If Prim told Katniss to win, she's not going to give up.

"And what did you say?" Caesar asks softly.

Katniss's voice goes low.

"I swore I would." Katniss says.

"I bet you did." Caesar says, giving Katniss a squeeze. The buzzer goes off, catching everyone off guard. "Sorry we're out of time. Best of luck, Katniss Everdeen, tribute from District Twelve."

The applause is long. I think the people of the Capitol really like Katniss. That's good because of sponsorship, but the other tributes may get jealous, and that may get ugly.

Peeta Mellark's interview seems to go smoothly, although I'm pretty caught up in thinking about Katniss. The audience laughs and shouts, but I don't care. The only interview I'm really concerned about is Katniss's. It strikes me that I have to be concerned about a lot of things. My family, school, not getting caught while hunting. My best friend being thrown into a death arena is not taking away from any stress.

I tune back into the television. Caesar is asking Peeta if he has a girlfriend. Peeta pauses and gives a shake of his head.

"Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what's her name?" Caesar asks.

Peeta sighs. "Well, there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping."

The crowd sighs. Why are they always desperate to connect with the tributes, while they unblinkingly watch them die days later? Sometimes I wonder if the people from the Capitol are actually human, or if they've created a whole new despicable race altogether.

"She have another fellow?" Caesar asks.

"I don't know, but a lot of boys like her." says Peeta.

"So here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" Caesar says receptively.

"I don't think that's going to work out. Winning…won't help in my case." Peeta replies.

"Why ever not?" Caesar asks, dumbfounded.

Peeta blushes a deep shade of red. I know where this is going. I hope with all of my might that I am wrong. But I'm not.

"Because…because…she came here with me."


	10. Chapter 10

**Part Two: The Torture **

Chapter Ten 

My first emotion is shock. Then jealousy. Then confusion.

Katniss's face appears on the screen, looking utterly astonished. She stares at the floor and the camera goes back to Peeta and Caesar.

Peeta doesn't even know Katniss, does he? Then, a horrible pain stabs at my body. What if Katniss and this boy had been in love for so long, and Katniss just decided not to tell me either because she was too embarrassed, or thought I couldn't accept it. The thought of Katniss keeping something from me like that is unbearable. I've told her everything always. My heart feels like its plummeting down a cliff to shatter as I think of the next thought. I've told her everything except that I love her.

"Oh that is a piece of bad luck." Caesar says earnestly.

The crowd is whispering amongst themselves, feeling bad for Peeta. Strange, I didn't think they had feelings at all.

"It's not good." Peeta says.

My jaw is clenched tightly, along with my fists. I don't want him to be with Katniss at all. One of them will die, so it shouldn't matter. They can't be together because there can only be one winner. But what if Katniss does love him in return, and she decides to forget everything back home and die alongside him nobly? I couldn't take it. There would be no way I could watch that and go on into the rest of my life.

I shake my head. Why am I thinking like this? Katniss might not even like Peeta back in return. Also, this could be a trap. Peeta may be doing this just so he can get sponsors. Or, Peeta wants Katniss to trust him so he can kill her. If he does that and comes home alive, I'll make sure the rest of his life is a living hell. However long I allow that to be.

"Well, I don't think any of us can blame you. It'd be hard not to fall for that young lady." says Caesar.

I know exactly what he means.

"She didn't know?" Caesar asks.

Peeta shakes his head. "Not until now."

The camera goes back to Katniss who is blushing profusely. It definitely doesn't look like she knew until now. And the Katniss I know isn't the most talented actor in the world. Well, she isn't to me, but to the rest of the ignorant Capitol, she probably is.

"Wouldn't you love to pull her back out here and get a response?" Caesar asks the audience.

The crowd roars and screams. I don't know if I want to hear her response or not. If she says that she doesn't love Peeta back, it will relieve me. But if she says that she does, then it will add to my jealousy, anger and confusion.

"Sadly, rules are rules, and Katniss Everdeen's time had been spent." Caesar says. "Well, best of luck to you, Peeta Mellark, and I think I speak for all of Panem when I say our hearts go with yours."

No, not quite all of Panem.

The crowd roars, in love with Peeta Mellark. His declaration of love for another tribute has really got them going. He's going to be getting a lot of sponsors.

The television flashes to something different, and I lean forward to turn it off.

"Well that was interesting." I say bitterly, heading to my room.

I try to rest because I won't be getting much sleep during the Hunger Games, but find myself unable. I want to sleep, I need to sleep, but the anxiety and the knowledge that I need to sleep is keeping me awake. Then, I'll try to relax but I never drift off. The Hunger Games is on tomorrow. The real games begin. I'm not ready, but Katniss better be.

I wake up, having probably gotten a little over an hour of sleep. I force myself out of bed, straining to summon the energy that I don't have. I try to get ready to go hunting, but I can't think about hunting right now. Too many things cross my mind, and all at once. I try to solve one problem, then another pops up before I have the chance. Worries buzz around in my head like insects trying to pry at my brain and just eat me alive. I want to just sit here and let them eat me, so I won't have to deal with any of them. But I can't let that happen. I can't slip away and abandon my family, sort of like Katniss's mom.

I'm not trying to offend Mrs. Everdeen, but ever since her husband died, she sort of isolated herself in her own cold world of misery and mourning. It's been a few years now, and I know Katniss is still mad at her. I only realize now how hard it must be, mother and daughter splitting up while unforgotten, unforgiven things still lie between them.

I have to hunt early today, because the real games begin right around lunchtime. I won't be able to leave the television after the games begin, so I might as well hunt first. The people of the Capitol might be experiencing similar feelings. They won't be able to leave the television because it's just simply so exiting. I won't be able to leave because I need to make sure my best friend is alive. I will have to hunt today. I bet the people from the Capitol press a magical button that delivers them as much food as they desire. And if there's left overs, they probably just throw them away.

_But wait, if they eat so much, they might get fat! Oh, no!_ I think in disgust. _They probably either puke it all up in the end or get surgery done. Oh, the woes of the Capitol. _

I leave a note for my mother and head for the woods. School is canceled today because this is some sort of sick holiday. Nobody in District 12 will be celebrating, except maybe if the tributes last a whole night.

I crawl under the fence in the woods. I pick up my bow but I realize that my hands are shaking. Katniss could die in a few hours. I could see her die in a few hours. After all I've been in denial that my best friend will not have to go into the arena, I'm going to watch it today.

_This can't be happening, _I think. _Why me? Why her? _

I try to hunt, but end up pacing so carelessly that all the game flees from my path too quickly. I check a few of my snares and pick up a single rabbit and two squirrels. I pick some berries and greens, but then it's time to head back. I have to trade the small amount of what I have before the games begin.

Where's Katniss right now? Probably in the Stockyard. The Stockyard is what the people in the districts call the launch area where the tribute stay right before the games, so they can be launched into the arena. Launched into their almost certain death. The "Launch Rooms" or, Stockyards, are sealed after the games so people from the Capitol can come on vacations to each of the arenas. Lovely. They find it fun to visit the exact places where innocent children met their deaths. Sometimes, there's even reenactments that tourists can participate in. How pitiless and disgusting can you get? There is no limit for the people of the Capitol. When they look into the mirror, they don't see the atrocious, repulsive creatures that they really are. They see the small wrinkle on their cheek that needs a touch-up.

My fists are clenched so hard that I'm almost drawing blood. I think of how weird I must look right now. Walking through town with my face reddening and my fists clenched so hard I'm hurting myself. I try to pull on a straight, calm face as I head in the Hob.

I make a few trades and head to the baker's house on the other side of town. I reach the house, knock on the door and one of Peeta Mellark's brothers answers.

We stop and stare at each other, without saying a thing. What goes on between us is for only us to ever know. His blue eyes and my gray lock together, staring, silent except for the exchange of emotions that both of us solemnly acknowledge. One of us is doomed to eternal grief. We both don't want it to be ourselves, but we both don't want the other to be forever in anguish. We are linked by the sorrow that we both must go through. I don't even know his name, but I feel like I know Peeta Mellark's brother.

Finally, Peeta's brother breaks the gaze that bound us together.

I hand out my rabbit and the boy takes it into the house, returning with a loaf of bread.

"Thank you." I say. The first words between us since I arrived.

"You're welcome, and thank you, too." he closes the door and I walk away.

I head home, feeling sick to my stomach. No matter how strong Katniss is, she must be nervous as hell right now. I want more than anything to be with her, tell Catnip that it's all going to be all right, even though now, I'm not so sure myself. I'm not so sure that Katniss will return to District 12, that I will ever go hunting with my best friend again. I'm not so sure that I'll ever have a future, I'll probably end up struggling to feed both of our families for the rest of my life, refusing ever to have children so I won't have to feed them, too. Then, I realize how selfish that is. Now, when my best friend is probably going to die, I'm thinking about my miserable future. I bite down on my lip hard, scolding myself, making myself feel the small pain in my mouth. How can I think of myself right now? How can I live with myself? I'm despicable.

I head inside my house and drop the food off. Rory grabs half of the share, and heads out the door, familiar with the routine.

My head is throbbing and I sit down in a chair. But I can't stay seated for longer than a few seconds. Nervous, I rise from my chair and pace, but I can't do that for long. So, I sit down, only to get back up and pace again. Sickening more as the minutes tick by, I repeat the cycle. I can only think about what I'm going to have to witness in half an hour.

My mom hurries over to me and places a hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay." she whispers.

Sure, it's okay. I'm going to watch my best friend fight for her life in an arena, where I will be as cold as the Capitol, wanting all of the other innocent children to die if I want my best friend to stay alive. Sure, everything is going to be all right. Just like it was going to be all right after my father died. Just like it was going to be all right before the reaping.

I have always seen the empty promise in those words, the words just minutes ago, I wanted to tell Katniss. I don't want to lie to her before the games. I don't want the last thing I say to my best friend to be a lie. Even if Katniss returns alive, which I hope with every fiber in my being that she does, if she's a halfway decent human being, which at least she is, she will be forever haunted by the faces of the children that died so she could live. But they need to die if she lives. And she will live. She has to live.

I rack my brain, trying to think of the last words I said to Katniss. Then I remember. I close my eyes and take in the scene again.

I stood there, fighting against the Peacekeepers that tried to tear me away from Katniss. I started to panic, it wasn't nearly enough time for me to talk to her. Desperate, Katniss clung to my hand, begging me to not let her family starve.

"I won't! You know I won't." I had cried. "Katniss, remember I-" Then they had torn us apart before I had the chance to tell Katniss.

If Katniss lives or dies I know I must keep her family alive. The only way now I can show Katniss that I truly am her friend and always will be, is to never break the promise that I said the last time I saw Katniss. I will never let her family starve, never, ever.

Rory returns right as we're turning the television on. My breathing becomes broken and unsteady as the tubes that the tributes are placed in fly into the arena.

The arena. It changes every year, providing new obstacles for the tributes, and more entertainment for the Capitol. The crueler the arena, the more blood there is, the better the games are. The camera focuses on this year's arena. There's a clearing where the Cornucopia sits, but it's surrounded by woods in a few directions. That's good, great actually. Katniss does well in forests.

The Cornucopia is the giant golden horn that is full of supplies. It was a wide mouth and a curved tail at the end. I think the shape originated somewhere back in ancient times when people in North America celebrated a thanksgiving of some sort. The tributes are all placed an equal distance from the Cornucopa, and in the beginning of each games, the tributes rush to get valuables, creating a bloodbath to precede every game. This year, it looks like the most valuable items are on the inside, and lesser items are lined up on the outside of the horn. As much as I want Katniss to get good weapons and food, I want her to run. I want her to get away from the bloodbath as quickly as possible, and as heartless as it seems, I want as many other tributes to die right away as possible. This will increase Katniss's chances of winning, as well as give me less time to feel bad for the other tributes.

The tributes have sixty seconds to stand in their circles after the games are announced to begin. Sixty seconds to decide where to go before they are released into the violent chaos. If a tribute steps outside of their circle, they are blown up. I bite my lip. One year, a girl was blows to pieces because her pin dropped outside the circle. I don't want Katniss to meet the same fate.

Then, Claudius Temlesmith, the legendary announcer of the Hunger Games, rings out the starter of every year, with the exception of the number of the year. My stomach drops as he says it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Sixty seconds left, my heart is pounding…Forty seconds, my head starts to throb…Twenty seconds, I think I'm going to puke…Ten seconds, I can't breathe.

Katniss can go straight to the Cornucopia, and try to get food, supplies and weapons. She can run right, where there is a huge lake. Or she can turn left, to the woods. I instantly know that I want her in the woods. Katniss is at home in the woods.

Katniss can run. Fast. She's one of the fastest girl sprinters in her grade, and if she makes a break for it right away, I don't think any of the other tributes will want to follow her. But Katniss needs a bow. There's surely a bow in the Cornucopia, but I don't want Katniss to die trying to get it. I hate thinking about this, I should just let go of my thoughts and watch. But I can't. I need to put my instinct and logic together to see what I would do, even though nothing I say or do can mean anything inside the games.

I wonder what Katniss's mentor told her to do. Haymitch is her mentor, so whatever he says may or may not be good. Why does Katniss have to end up with the drunk as her mentor? Is everything out of her favor?

Then, the gong rings, signaling the start of the games. Signaling the start of my torture. Katniss pauses for maybe a second before rushing out of her circle. Shoot! She just lost the few valuable moments in which she could have beat a tribute to the Cornucopia. My heart is pounding so hard I think it may rupture my chest. Or leap out of my throat along with the sloshing contents of my stomach.

It's hard to see with the camera focused on all of the tributes, but Katniss reaches the Cornucopia's outside and scoops up a loaf of bread wrapped in plastic. Good. She has some food. Then, she runs over to an orange backpack.

_Run, run, run! _My mind screams. But still, I want Katniss to get her hands on as many supplies as possible.

The camera cuts to a few other tributes, battling for a long spear. Then, it cuts back to Katniss, who has reached the orange pack, along with a boy from District 9. The both try to grab the bag first. This could be it. It could be over within ten seconds. I want to throw up, but I force myself to hold my breakfast down.

A knife comes whizzing out of nowhere and pierces the District 9 boy in the back. He coughs blood on Katniss's face and slips to the ground. How unpleasant that must be. Katniss has never been squeamish about blood, but when it's from a human being and on your face…disgusting.

I hear Posy gasp but I don't turn around.

"Mommy! Mommy, did that hurt?" she asks, horrified. Posy shouldn't be watching this. It's too violent and bloody for her. She doesn't understand the cruelty of the Capitol just yet. I don't want her to grow up ignorant, but I don't want her to die because of the mistake of being caught defying the Capitol.

"Yes, now go to your room and play, you don't need to watch this." my mother says.

Posy doesn't understand what's happening. Right now, I wish I don't either.

The camera cuts to the girl from District 2 who is running with knives in her hand. She must've been the one who hit the boy from District 9, and undoubtedly killed him. It only takes a few nauseating seconds to realize that she's running at Katniss.

My insides leap and I hold my breath. I need Katniss to run, and quickly. As I hoped, she turns to the woods, sprinting. Now, it's only a matter of whether the girl from District 2 can hit her or not. Katniss slides the backpack behind her head, protecting herself. Smart. Katniss has always had good instincts. But sometimes, instincts aren't enough.

A knife flies at Katniss and I watch, mortified, as it sticks into the pack that covers Katniss's head.

"No!" I cry, jerking forward out of my seat.

The backpack sinks down onto Katniss's shoulders, knife still in it. I let out a sigh of relief as Katniss disappears into the woods. The girl from District 2 won't chase Katniss, and she at least has a knife now.

The camera cuts back to various tributes, fighting for objects.

I breathe rapidly, trying to slow down. Eventually, as they show more footage of the bloodbath, my breathing shallows. I still can't relax, Katniss could die any minute.

About a dozen tributes still fight at the Cornucopia, including tributes from District 1, 2, 4, 3, 8 and Peeta Mellark. Peeta Mellark? He looks like he's fighting with the Career tributes, is that possible? Usually, District 12 tributes don't ever join a group with the Careers.

The girl from District 3 dives for a pack, but the boy from District 2 stabs her in the back with a sword. She's dead before she can see her killer. I shudder. That must be really horrible. Trying to cling on to something for survival, but then all of the sudden…it's all gone and you never know just why.

I realize that the little girl from District 11 must have run off, considering she's not fighting or lying dead on the ground. I'm somehow happy for that. If Katniss and Peeta don't win, I want her to.

"Dang it." I breathe, scolding myself for getting attached to any of these people. I'm going to watch them die, and I don't want to have to make it any harder than it already is.

The big boy from District 11, Thresh if I am correct, grabs for something in the Cornucopia. The male District 4 tribute comes up with a spear, poised to kill. Thresh grabs a club and the District 4 boy is taken by surprise, smashed in the head and knocked to the ground. Thresh runs away with a good amount of supplies while the boy from District 4 lies on the ground, crumpled and motionless. The blow looked like it could've obliterated the boy's skull. It probably did.

Thresh gets away, unscathed. That worries me because he's a huge threat. Any tribute living lowers the chances of Katniss coming home. I don't want to watch Thresh swing a club and shatter Katniss's skull. I don't want anything bad to happen, but this is the Hunger Games, bad things happen.

The boy from District 8 seizes a dagger and lunges at Peeta Mellark, who doesn't have much time to react. Peeta is scratched on the arm. He cries out in pain and I wince. If anyone is to live but Katniss, it needs to be Peeta so food will come to the district.

Then, the boy from District 1, who is now wielding the spear of the clearly deceased District 4 boy tribute, pierces the boy from District 8 right below the chest.

The boy slides to the ground, but not without cutting Peeta in the leg.

My stomach churns. Whether my best friend is in it or not, I hate watching the Hunger Games. Most of all, I hate hearing the sounds of the tributes before they die, and watching their faces in their last moments. I've experienced that with animals a lot. It's much different with humans. Katniss may shoot an animal, but it may not die right away. So that's when I come in with my knife to the dying animal, and quicken the process. I don't have much remorse for killing animals, but I don't enjoy watching them suffer one bit. I don't know if I could do that to a person. A real kid with real words and emotions. I wouldn't be able to bear listening to them plead for their life seconds before it's all over. But I would be able to do it if it was a life or death situation, I would do it for my family.

Vick heads to the bathroom and I hear him throwing up. He shouldn't be watching this. Neither should Rory. Nobody should be watching this, really. I'm scared to death that next year, my brother's name will be called in the reaping. Next year, I may be watching with the same anxiety, praying that my brother comes home, and not in a cheap wooden box. I've seen two of those boxes come to some house in the district every year of my life so far. I desperately hope that it doesn't remain a pattern.

So badly, I want it to be next year already. So I know if Katniss is alive or not. But next year will mean no tesserae, unless Rory signs up, which I will never let him do. Next year, I'll be in the mines.

The camera cuts away from the bloodbath to Thresh, who is running furiously into tall grass until he disappears. Then, the camera cuts to Katniss. My heart leaps and goes back to pounding at top speed. Katniss is running, and nobody seems to be around her. She's going to need water soon, but I can't worry about that yet. Right now, the concern is to get away from danger. Run.

Then, the camera shows the girl from District 5, with red hair and a long face. She is running in another wooded area, but it doesn't look similar to where Katniss fled. Then, the girl from District 5 closes in on another girl that I don't recognize. There's a scream and the unfamiliar girl falls to the ground, dead with a knife protruding from her chest.

I make a mental note that District 5 is a definite threat. I do not want Katniss to meet the same gruesome fate. I do not want Katniss to meet any gruesome fate. But when I weigh out the odds…

The camera cuts back to the Cornucopia, where a few more tributes lay dead on the ground. The Careers continue fighting, unfazed by the mangled bodies that are sprawled at their feet. I can't imagine what that would be like, fighting for your life, killing all these kids in the process. I might be able to do it, but not without living in guilt forever.

The first day of the Hunger Games is usually the day with the most kills. I feel cruel right now, wishing for more people to die, but I can't blame myself. Katniss has to live.

It troubles me though, that Peeta is hanging with the Careers. I don't know just why, but something inside of me doesn't seem right. Maybe it's a trap, and the Careers will dispose of him whenever they feel like it. That seems likely. But maybe not, maybe he actually has some hidden value to them. Whatever it is, I don't like it at all.

I sit and watch the games for the next few hours, propping myself against the couch, except for when Katniss is on. She seems to be running far and hard, I just hope that she doesn't dehydrate, but the more distance she can put between herself and other tributes, the better.

"Gale, do you want lunch?" my mother asks me. She glances nervously down at my pale, shaking hands.

"No." I reply steadily.

"Are you sure, you need to eat something." my mother tells me.

"I'm not hungry." I say, as a girl on the screen hits another person with an arrow.

My mother looks at me and raises her eyebrow.

"Mom, if I eat, I'll throw up anyway, like Vick did. Let him refill his stomach." I say.

With that, my mother walks away and leaves the matter alone.

I usually don't have an appetite whenever I watch the Hunger Games, but now when there's so much pressure, the thought of eating doesn't even cross my mind. The only thought that does is Katniss. Katniss surviving. Katniss must live. Plus, I feel guilty eating when Katniss barely has food, not like I'd be able to eat much anyway.

My heart is thudding rapidly and my hands are trembling. My insides don't feel too good either. But I sit here, staring at the television. Virtually nothing will be able to rip me away, including lunch, whether it's eating it or losing it.

Fighting continues, but luckily no action or harm comes Katniss's way. If only it could stay like this forever. If only Katniss could just run and run and everybody else would kill each other and she'd just win. That's what I want to happen, but I know it won't. I don't think a tribute has ever won without killing at least one other tribute. Something knots up in my stomach as I picture Katniss killing another kid. I know she'll be able to do it, but the image haunts me. She would never kill unless person unless she had to, and now, she has to. Katniss being a killer of not just wild game makes me shudder. This is going to change her forever. But no matter if she goes crazy and takes out every other kid in the games, she'll always be my Catnip.

My hope of Katniss just running away from it all makes me think of how we could have fled into the woods. Maybe we could have brought our families with us, and maybe we could have made it. But it wouldn't fix anything really. The Capitol would still own Panem, people would still starve, children would still die in the Hunger Games. We can't run. Running isn't the answer. Like Katniss, we must fight.

My trembling hands close into fists and my jaw tightens. The Capitol can't take everything away from me. My father's death is their fault. He wouldn't have worked in the mines if our district hadn't been so poor. My starving family is the fault of the Capitol. Katniss being in this arena of death is their fault also. The Capitol must go.

By late afternoon, all the fighting at the Cornucopia is over, but my own rage still fights a battle inside my head. The Career tributes, including Peeta Mellark, retreat to the lake, chasing away whoever resides there.

Eleven canon shots ring out into the air. Each canon fire represents a dead tribute. Usually, they fire canons right at the moment of a tribute's death, but on the first day, they fire after the action so they don't lose track.

Eleven shots. That's nearly half of the tributes. Dead on the first day. It sends chills up my back, but I'm at least relieved that Katniss isn't one of the canon shots. Or Peeta Mellark for that matter.

The camera cuts to Katniss and my muscles tense up. Exhausted after traveling many miles, Katniss slumps down by a tree. My heartbeat quickens, threatening to leap out of my throat. I sit motionless, frozen in an icy state of anxiety.

Katniss pulls out the contents of her unfortunately bright bag. She will be spotted easily with those colors. I hope the bag contains food, water and some weaponry. Maybe paint to disguise the hopelessly vibrant container itself.

Inside the pack is a thick black sleeping bag, some crackers, a pack of dried beef strips, a bottle of what appears to be iodine, a box of matches, a coil of wire, sunglasses, and a half-gallon plastic water bottle. Empty. It's not bad to start, but I wish there was water in the bottle. That would really help. She must have lost her loaf of bread somewhere.

The camera cuts to Thresh, alone, hidden in tall, dense grass. It looks like he, too, has some valuables.

I try to remember all that I've seen today, hoping for signs of water. My heart sinks as I remember the lake. The lake that's guarded by the Careers. If that's the only water there is in the arena, there's no hope that Katniss can get to the lake before she dehydrates, and even if she did make it, the Careers would kill her before she could even take a sip.

Haymitch! He's Katniss's mentor. If Katniss gets a sponsor, which she surely has plenty with her training score, he can send her water. Water is not expensive, especially on the first day of the games. Prices increase as the days go by, but I doubt water will ever be unaffordable. But then again, will Haymitch have the sense if he's drunk?

Katniss takes her knife and cuts away at the bark on a pine tree around her, eating as she walks along. It's a good way to conserve the food she has. I really hope I've taught Katniss enough in her snares.

The day drags on and they don't show Katniss too much. As much as I want to see her, it means that not much action is going on around her, which is good. I think again of how running won't solve anything.

"Gale, you need to eat." my mother tells me.

"No, I'm fine, really." I say.

"You need to eat." my mother repeats with an urgency in her voice that I've heard a countless number of times.

I turn away from the television screen for once. My mother's face is stern, but worried.

"Fine, hand me a piece of bread." I say just to make my mother happy.

She hands me a hunk of bread that's much bigger than I intended. My mother waits until I've swallowed my first bite before she leaves me. It makes me feel angry and oddly juvenile. I don't need to be supervised to make sure I clean my plate like a little kid. But nobody in the Seam has problems with cleaning their plate since they'll pretty much all poor and/or starving

I watch as Katniss sets up two-twitch up snares. I have taught her well. She must've seen some game along the way, or she wouldn't have risked setting a trap. Animals mean that there must be some water nearby. The hope is invigorating to me, I can't even begin to explain.

Eventually, after giving other tributes their camera time, they show Katniss again, who is nestled in a willow tree. She remains almost inconspicuous, which is good. The camera closes in on her and I can see that with her belt, she has actually strapped herself into the tree. This can be good or bad. It prevents her from falling out of the tree, but it also prevents her from making a quick getaway. I can't decide which is more important.

The television screen switches to the recap for the day, where it will reveal all of the dead tributes. The seal of the Capitol appears on the screen and the anthem starts to play. I fill with contempt and rage. I hate the Capitol. No, I don't hate the Capitol, I loathe it.

The first dead person to appear on the screen is the girl from District 3. In the recaps, we get to watch their death all over again. It's like the highlights for the Capitol to some horrible sport or something. The dead tributes will go in order from the lowest numbered district to the highest.

The television shows the girl from District 3 diving for supplies. I watch the boy from District 2 pierce her with the sword again. Seeing it one time before was too many times for my liking.

Then, the boy from District 4 appears on the screen, being clubbed by a defensive Thresh. I have some sort of respect for Thresh, considering he didn't gang up with the Careers. If they let Peeta in, they certainly would let Thresh in.

Then they show the deaths of both tributes from 6, 7, the boy from 8, and both from 9. The girl from District 10 is also dead. It must be really disheartening to watch both tributes from your district die on the first day, eliminating all hope of extra food and celebrating. Forcing you to wait a whole year for just the small chance again that you will win. Even then, it's still not likely.

The Capitol seal returns and the anthem ends. I turn the television off. They won't be showing the Hunger Games until tomorrow morning. Until then, I can try to rest, along with the families and friends of the rest of the tributes. My best friend may die tonight while I know I will be fruitlessly trying to sleep, but for now, she has made it through the first day.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

All night, I toss and turn, unable to find rest. If I hadn't been sleeping well before the games, I don't know what to call this now. I think of Katniss. Katniss has to make it. But also, I think of all of the other tributes. I keep seeing their faces replayed in my head, especially the little girl's. They all have to die. They all will die if Katniss lives.

Finally, dawn breaks after a night that lasted forever. I hurry to the living room, where they will show an update on what happened while I tried to sleep. I hold my breath, turning on the television. My heart sinks. It's not time yet.

Nervously, I pace around my living room until the clock shows that it's five a.m. They have a few recaps during the day, one at five for the early risers, and one at six. The games start being shown at six thirty, but in the Capitol, they go all night. I wish they went all night here, then I would be able to be with Katniss the whole way. But also, I would never get any rest, I would spend every minute by the television, and I would have no energy to hunt. I'd be like Mrs. Everdeen. Sitting by while my family starves.

The screen shows the girl from District 9 lighting a fire. In the dead of night. Idiot! Now anybody will be able to see her, she's basically asking for death and pointing to where she is! Come and get me, Careers! Well, the thought that some of the tributes practically don't have a brain reassures me. But what comes next on the screen doesn't.

Katniss lies, tied to her tree, watching the girl with the fire. My heart sinks. The idiot waving the Careers over is right by Katniss. Not only is she begging for her death, but putting Katniss in danger too. Part of me wants Katniss to take her out, now, but part of me doesn't want her to, because if the Careers are nearby, they will see the fire go out and hear the canon, and they'll know a dangerous tribute is nearby. But then again, this did happen a while ago, so maybe no other tributes are around.

Then, the screen cuts to various other tributes, Thresh, hiding in the tall grass. Rue, the little girl, up in a tree. The girl from District 5, sleeping in a forest. The boy from District 3, curled up at the base of a tree, working on some contraption that I can't identify. And finally, the Careers and Peeta, trekking through the woods.

Then, showing that time has passed, they cut back to the Career pack. They walk in the woods, and even I can see the fire from where I am on the screen. No! Katniss better have moved, or else the Careers may get her too. If this did happen, she could be dead already. Dead and gone. Just plain gone. Katniss can't be gone, it's unfathomable to me.

One of the Careers, the boy from District 2 I think, points to the fire, and puts a finger over his mouth. Slowly and stealthily, the pack creeps closer. I think of how Katniss and I had to creep through the woods whenever we needed to get closer to an animal, we really don't make any noise at all. Peeta, with or without his limp, is probably waking up the whole woods.

The Careers break out into a run and descend upon the screaming girl with the fire.

"No, no!" she screams. "Stop, please!"

I feel sick as the girl from District 9 begs for her life. She must be what? Fifteen?

The big boy from District 2 takes his knife, and regardless of the girl's screams and pleads, chooses to end it right there.

The Careers laugh and whoop, not caring that they're making a racket, because they'll be able to take down anybody that comes their way. They check the girl's supplies and find nothing valuable.

"Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking." the boy from District 2 says.

I can't breathe. They move closer to Katniss's tree as I move closer to throwing up. I just sit, watching as my best friend might die. I feel weak, powerless.

Then, the pack stops, concerned about something.

"Shouldn't we have heard a canon by now?"

"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going immediately."

That's true. The canons are supposed to go off at the moment of a tribute's death. And it looked like that girl was pretty in for it when they stuck her with the knife.

"Unless she isn't dead."

"She's dead. I stuck her myself."

"Then where's the canon?"

"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done."

I hate listening to the Career pack talk, their sickening voices make me want to vomit even more than I already do.

"Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice."

"I said she's dead!"

Argument breaks out between the Careers. It's fights like these that can make them take each other out. Personally, I want one of them to kill another, then another to get mad and they all start fighting and take each other out. Then, Katniss will have less to compete with. Much less.

Peeta, who hasn't been contributing much to the argument, breaks it up.

"We're wasting time! I'll go finish her and let's move on." he says.

"Go on then, Lover Boy." The boy from District 2 says. "See for yourself."

The camera follows Peeta back to the girl, lying limp on the ground. He really is in bad condition, with lots of bruises, his bandaged arm and his limp. I can't feel bad for him. He has to die.

Once Peeta is out of earshot, the Careers start to talk.

"Why don't we just kill him now and get it over with?"

"Let him tag along. What's the harm? And he's handy with the knife."

Just as I expected, the Careers want to get rid of Peeta. Something inside of me wants them to do it quickly, so there are less tributes, and I won't have time to get to know Peeta. The quicker they go, the better. The faster this is over. The faster Katniss is home.

"Besides, he's our best chance of finding her."

I clench my fists. "Her" is Katniss. So that's why the Careers let Peeta in, they want to kill Katniss, who is just feet away from them. Peeta is bait. I hope with all of my might that Katniss isn't lured in. She's usually smarter than that. But will Katniss be smarter than that if she's driven by love? It's painful to think about, Katniss loving another boy. Losing herself because she's crazy for him. Forgetting about me as I sit here tortured, collecting dust it seems.

The camera cuts to an oblivious Peeta, who kills the girl with his knife. Then, back to the Careers.

"Why? You think she bought into that sappy romance stuff?"

Is Peeta lying? I hope he is and I hope Katniss knows it.

"She might have. Seemed pretty simpleminded to me. Every time I think about her spinning around in that dress, I want to puke."

Simpleminded? That's not Katniss Everdeen at all. The Careers are in for one hell of a nasty shock.  
"Wish we knew how she got that eleven."

"Bet you Lover Boy knows."

Peeta runs back into the crowd, as if on cue.

"Was she dead?" the boy from District 2 asks.

"No. But she is now," Peeta says. A canon shot rings into the air. The deadly sound is a sound of hope to me. One bit closer to Katniss winning. "Ready to move on?"

The Careers run past Katniss's tree and I let out a sigh of relief. The screen goes black. That must've been all the action that went on last night.

"Gale?" my mother asks.

Startled, I turn around.

My mother stands in our living room. A look of question appears on her face, and it's not struggle to know what she's asking.

I nod slowly, with a reassuring twitch of my mouth.

My mother smiles and puts her hand on my shoulder.

"She can do it." she whispers.

"I know she can." I say. And with that, I get up to get ready for school.

Before I leave, I watch a few more minutes of the Hunger Games. One of Katniss's snares caught a rabbit, and she cooks it so she can eat. This will show sponsors that she can hunt and fend for herself. But I must wrench myself away from the television, no matter how much I hate to do so.

Every step I walk to school, the more I feel like I'm abandoning Katniss. More than anything, aside from having Katniss back altogether, I want to just skip school and watch the Hunger Games. If I had the choice, I'd probably be watching until my eyes literally bled. But in school, we only get updates at lunch. During lunch I won't be focusing on eating, I will be staring at the television in hopes that my best friend isn't dead. My stomach squirms when I think that Peeta Mellark's brother might be doing the same. We both might be sitting side by side as my best friend and his brother kill each other. I can't imagine how hard that would be.

School starts out horrible. If I couldn't focus before, I must be totally far gone now. Well, emotionally I'm not in the classroom. Emotionally, I'm right there with Katniss, whispering in her ear what she should do, or visioning what's happening to her right now. She could be dying at the very moment I write the answer to a problem. Or, she could be killing a little twelve year old girl while I read a book. Of course, every time I pick up a book, I only digest the first few words before my mind drifts off into the brutal arena.

Finally, after what seems like endless hours, it's lunch time. I don't get in line to eat. I march straight into the cafeteria and take a seat to stare at the television that hangs on the wall.

Peeta Mellark's brother wordlessly comes and sits at the table I'm at, but we sit a few chairs apart. Our eyes meet, but we don't let them lock for long this time.

I get just what I want. The screen shows Katniss. I feel my body go rigid and my heart speed up. I can't do anything stupid in front of all my classmates…well, it doesn't matter right now. Katniss is the only thing that matters.

I watch as Katniss, with the aid of a walking stick, stumbles along. She looks weak, helpless even. It's hard to even recognize her. She's an easy target for any tribute now. Somebody could just come up right now and take her out. I close my eyes for one brief second of fear, but I have to keep watching. I kick myself for merely blinking. A blink could miss a whole lot in the Hunger Games.

Katniss struggles to keep moving, and I know it's close to the end. Why doesn't somebody just send her water? Just a damn sip of water is all she needs!

Then, Katniss falls to the ground. No, please, no! She needs water, she's dying. And I'm sitting here in school watching. Watching as Katniss brushes her fingers in the mud, accepting her fate. No, get back up! Mud! She's at a pond! The hope brings a new life in me and I almost sit up and scream at Katniss to realize she's lying right by a pond. But I sit tight, hoping, praying that Katniss realizes what is literally yards in front of her. She does. Katniss, realizing, just like me, that she is indeed near water, gets up. I hold my breath, the water could be contaminated. But Katniss is prepared for that. She fills her water bottle and pours some iodine in it, so it should purify. You have to wait a bit, about half an hour, for it to spring into affect. How agonizing that must be. Dehydrated, you finally find water, but then you have to wait for it to be ready. But Katniss waits. Katniss will live…well, not dehydrate at least.

Then, the camera cuts to somebody else, and I remember that I'm in school. I look over at Peeta Mellark's brother, who is sitting beside me, motionless. He's waiting for his brother. He must surely know what the Careers think of him. Then something pops into my head. The only thing keeping Peeta alive is Katniss. The Careers want to get Katniss, so they keep Peeta alive because they feel he'll bring her to them. So basically, Peeta's brother should be hoping Katniss lives for now, so his brother can live. But Peeta must die. He will die if Katniss wins. And I have to remember that. I have to remember that this boy next to me will lose a brother so Katniss can come home. I can't let that bother me, but somewhere deep down, it does. But not to the point where I don't want Katniss to return here. I miss her too much for that.

Lunch finally is over, and I'm forced away from the television. No tributes have died so far today, and there hasn't been much action. I'm disappointed, but not like the Capitol people. They want to see action because they want entertainment. I want to see action so more tributes can be eliminated.

The rest of the school day goes slowly, as it always does. Everything we learn about practically has something to do with coal. We are constantly reminded in school of how Panem became, and how much we owe the Capitol, and things like that. We learn too much about coal. In math, we do problems like, how much coal could you mine out in a month, if you worked at a consistent rate of three pounds an hour? Of course, our problems are more complicated, but it's the same concept. I suppose the Capitol doesn't want us getting too smart, smart enough to figure out a way to overthrow them. That's what this all is. The Capitol does what they do to us, just so they can live. Is the correlation always the same? Killing equals survival? I'm sure there'd be a lot of killing if we rebelled against the Capitol and won, but if we won, there'd be a lot less killing in the future. So we'd be saving lives. Not destroying them. But the Capitol is either so cogent, making it's people believe the things they tell them, or people are just too afraid to rebel. Afraid to take a stand. Afraid to lose their loved ones. We need to stop that cycle and not be afraid.

I shake my head as I head out of class. Thinking up rebellious thoughts is bound to just land me somewhere I don't want to be. Whipped, jailed, fined, killed, you name it. That's it. I'm just afraid.

Finally the school day ends and I almost forget to go to detention. My fists close hard on themselves when I walk through the Principal's door. The gray haired, fake smiling man is keeping me from another hour of Katniss. And I hate him for that.

After an agonizing hour of homework, I head as quickly as I can to the woods. I need to get food fast so I can go home to Katniss. I just need to know if she's alive.

Making sure that nobody's around, I squeeze myself under the fence and take off into the woods. This may be the closest I'll ever come to being free, but I don't like to think that way. Once I'm a good ways into the woods, I sit on a rock and just wait for a moment. I close my eyes and Katniss's appear in my mind. Gray, there's so much more to them than other people see. The determination, the will to survive, but also there's something else in there, too. There's still the little girl she used to be, but it's almost gone by now. Katniss has grown up after all she's been through. I wouldn't call her a kid. But right now all I can think about is those pretty gray eyes.

My eyes snap open. I have to be alert, and I have to get hunting if I want to make it home soon. I begin to check my snares, finding two rabbits and two squirrels. Then, I pick as many familiar berries, herbs and roots as I can find.

I'm pretty satiated with today's haul, so I head down to the Hob to see what kind of trades I can make. I try to run through the black market quickly, I need to get home fast.

After the never ending day, I get home. Frantically, I run into the living room and stop dead in my tracks. I lock eyes with my mother who is sitting by the television. She nods and smiles, and with immense relief, I slide into a chair by the television. Katniss is alive. My mother goes over and sorts today's earnings, and Rory takes it to the Everdeen's place again. I remain silent, glued to the television.

Throughout the day, nothing really happened. No tributes died, and there weren't really any "good fights". The game makers will want to spice the games up a little bit so the audience won't find it boring. They want blood. Usually, the game makers don't kill too many tributes with their tricks, they try to injure them, or force them together. Because tribute versus tribute is apparently a much more intense death scene. I'm just happy that Katniss found water. Of course, that's not very entertaining to the Capitol, just maybe more people will bet on her. It's a sick hope to make, that people will bet on her survival, but if people bet, they won't want to lose money. Therefore, they'll try to send Katniss whatever they can, without going over their budget. What people will do for money these days. Have they ever stopped to think about the kid their betting on? Or do they just see their tribute as an unintelligent, unfeeling animal that just needs to win some sort of game? I think that's what the Capitol sees it all as, and they're just so stupid, I can't even begin to explain. Infinitely idiotic. The Capitol is one of the only things I've ever truly hated. Of course, everything that I hate always roots back to the Capitol.

I head to bed, hoping to get some rest tonight. I might as well rest while Katniss is relatively safe, because I know, there will be more trouble to come.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

I wake up, realizing that my tired body must've forced me to sleep some last night. Maybe an hour? Two…tops. I pull myself out of bed and head straight for the television. I pause a second before turning on the television, savoring the moment where I don't know if Katniss is dead or not. I don't last long. I press the power button and the recap is starting.

The Careers sit in the woods, talking about something that I have no interest in. Then, it happens.

A huge, unnatural wall of fire comes crashing towards the pack. Stunned, they pause a moment before gathering their things and heading out of there. I knew it. The game makers probably fear that the audience is getting bored, so they need a way to drive the tributes together.

Then, the screen cuts to another tribute, also noticing the fire. I don't recognize him, but he, too, runs desperately for a way out.

Then, Katniss comes on screen. Resting peacefully in her tree, she doesn't wake right away. My eyelids snap open and I can feel my pulse quickening. Wake up! My whole body seems to be screaming. But I remain still, lost in Katniss's world of survival.

Katniss opens her eyes and looks at the massive wall of flames. Quickly, she undoes the belt that holds her in the tree and hits the ground running.

Just as sudden as she came onscreen, she is off and another tribute is featured. That must mean they don't have much time for a recap, that they have so much action to fit in. That's not good at all.

I watch anxiously as the screen cuts away, and back to Katniss. She runs for a while, and I'm assuming this lasted much longer than what the program depicts. I can tell she desperately tries to avoid the violent flames that so desperately try to catch her. She tries following animals' paths, a smart tactic, but she can't keep up for long. Soon, Katniss is bending over and throwing up, but she continues surging forward, her need for survival and the heat and smoke are the only things that exist.

She's throwing up all the food she just ate. Everything that supplied her with energy. Gone. But she must keep going, she has to keep going.

The urgency spinning through my head makes me feel as if I'm in the burning woods, close enough to touch the fire and feel the smoke scorching my throat.

Then, after showing some of the other tributes' escapes, the recap is over. That's all that happened last night. I stare at the television, waiting for more, but my mother comes into the room, disturbing my concentration.

"Gale, you need to go get ready for school, I'll watch the games for you, if anything happens… well, I'll let you know." my mother says.

I nod, but I don't understand. Let me know? I don't want to just be notified if my best friend is burned alive by a mass of flames, or dies painfully, not able to breathe from smoke inhalation. Regardless of the millions of protests welling up inside of me, I find the willpower in my body to drag myself to my room and get dressed. As I pull on my shirt, I listen closely for any signs of distress from my mother. A scream, a yell, perhaps even a small gasp and I'll be racing out to the living room.

I'm finally physically ready for school, but not yet emotionally ready to tear myself away from the television. I go out into the living room where my mother is watching the games. I see Katniss on the screen and I stop abruptly.

She continues to run, looking as though she could fall over and die any moment. I've seen this look on tributes in the Hunger Games all of the time, but seeing it in my best friend is too much for me. My eyes widen and I stare blankly at the screen.

Out of nowhere, I fireball zooms through the air and Katniss dodges it by a hair's breadth. Every muscle in my body jerks myself forward towards the television, but somehow I restrain myself from screaming. Probably because I've forgotten how to speak.

Another fireball shoots out and Katniss makes her way away from it. This is undoubtedly another of the game makers' tricks. Then I realize that if they wanted to, the game makers could kill Katniss right here and now. They have the power to send a fireball directly at Katniss, true in aim, unable to fail. But right now they're just teasing her, playing with her, seeing if she'll dodge their futile attempts to kill.

"Gale, you must go, look at the time." my mother says urgently.

The thought of leaving now is impossible. I can't go.

I shake my head.

My mother sighs. This is just what she feared. "Look, she's in the games. She's never completely safe, Gale. So whether you leave when she's nestled in a tree or fire is shot at her, it doesn't matter. You have to get to school. Or else you won't get a job and you won't be able to feed either family. That doesn't help anybody. You can't live in a shell, you're not in the games. There's nothing you can do, except let it all consume you. Don't let that happen." my mother pleads.

With a sinking heart, I know she's right. I need to graduate school, I've only got a week or two left. And my commitment to feeding Katniss's family is greater than my commitment to staying by her side. She probably doesn't care if I'm watching her, because she's focused on survival, or at least, she better be. She'll never know if I'm sitting on the couch, staring as she clings madly onto life. She'll want me in school, or she'll want me out hunting, feeding our families.

Katniss dodges another fireball and miserably, I leave the house. I know it won't help to watch Katniss the whole time, the outcome will still be the same. Even with that knowledge, I just can't take the intensity of not watching, and not knowing what's happening. But when I am watching, I'm so intent on mentally fixing Katniss's mistakes, telling her what to do even when she can't listen. Either way, I'm not going to be happy.

I finally make it to school and sit aloof through all of my classes. Of course, I attract the usual stares and pointed fingers, but the attention has died down somewhat since the games started.

"Gale." a girl from my history class approaches me. I snap out of my fantasy world and take a look at the person talking to me. I know her face but I can't remember her name.

"Hi." I say lamely. She probably thinks I know her name, but what she doesn't know is that I don't care one bit. Although, I am slightly embarrassed that she knows my name and I have no recollection of hers.

"I was just wondering…" she trails off. "If you maybe…"

Oh no, I can see where this is going. Girls have been approaching me more often ever since Katniss's absence. The people who didn't think we were related always thought we'd end up married. But now, with Katniss gone, they see her as good as dead. That's how people see any District 12 tribute. Being called out of the reaping ball is like being invited to your funeral. I think of how the girls who like me were probably happy when Katniss's name was called in the reaping. If they were, they don't deserve to even speak to me. The only thing they deserve is shame.

"Gale?" the girl asks me. "I really like you."

She really likes me? And I don't even know her name. It's weird how some people know everything about you and you don't even have a clue as to who they are.

I don't want to put any effort into my response. If she wants Katniss dead that she can go live with her despicable self.

"I'm taken." I say gruffly.

"Oh." the girl says. And I wish she would just walk away. But she doesn't. "By who?" she asks.

"It's none of your business, okay?" I snap. Only when the dejected girl walks away, and I catch the glitter of water in her eyes, do I feel slightly sorry. I must sound like a jerk. I couldn't even put any effort in being polite, could I? Well, maybe it's better this way. Then maybe the girl will forget whatever she felt about me and tell her friends, and people will think I'm mean or rude and no girl will ever approach me again. And it's fine by me. I don't want any other girl besides Katniss.

Appearing unfazed, I sit up out of my desk and meet Cormack as he walks into class.

"What's the matter with her?" he asks, jerking his head to the girl who I just spoke with. She's whispering with her friends and her eyes are red and wet. I think of how Katniss rarely ever cries. She didn't even tear up when she was called for the reaping.

"I don't know." I say automatically, not wanting to complete the story.

Cormack looks at me with an understanding sort of gaze. Do I appear calloused and aloof to him, too? He looks at me with a look of pity, like I'm someone else. He's been that way ever since Katniss was sentenced to the Hunger Games. Has this made me a completely different person?

Before I get the chance to say anything, not like I planned on saying anything at all, class starts and I gladly take my seat. I'm thankful with every bone in my body that I don't sit anywhere near to the girl who came up to me before class.

Throughout the rest of the class, I don't even attempt to gain knowledge from what the teacher tries to get across. If I can only hold on for a few more weeks, I'll never have to deal with school again. But that means I'll be sent away to the mines, but that won't be until late summer or early fall.

Finally class ends and it's time for lunch. Again, I don't pick up a lunch, and I head straight to the television. People would tell me it's unhealthy not to eat, but why should I eat? Katniss isn't eating most likely, I'd feel too guilty. And what's the use if I might just throw it all up later?

I slide in by the television. It's a few minutes before Katniss appears. She comes on the screen and the relief inside of me is immense. Like a huge anvil that's been crushing down on my chest with annihilating force was just removed. Katniss is alive.

She is soaking herself in a pool of water. I don't understand why. The television again cuts to another tribute, but soon back to Katniss. She pulls herself out of the pool and I see why she's relaxing in water. Part of her pants on her calf are either burned or ripped off. Underneath that, her calf is burned. It doesn't look third degree, but still, it seems painful. Her skin is reddened and blistered, but not charred or black, thank goodness. I'm just glad she was able to soak it.

Then I remember how Katniss hates burns. She always said they were the worst kind of pain. In District 12, being the coal mining district, there is no dither of burn injuries. I then think of how Katniss is "the girl on fire." What terrible irony this is.

Peeta Mellark's brother come over and sits a few seats down from me. He has a tray of food with him. It's easier for me not to eat since I'm used to it. I wonder if he feels guilty that he didn't volunteer for his younger brother. He should, but there's no going back now.

I turn my attention back to the television. Nobody has died in the fire so far, but someone is likely to go down now that the tributes are closer together.

Peeta Mellark's brother straightens up when the television cuts to Peeta. I should really get to know his name. I wonder if he knows mine. He probably does, since I trade with his father a lot.

The Career pack seems pretty beat up, but they're all in good enough condition to be running around and hunting for kills. It's a shame that none of them have been taken out by the fire. There I go again, wishing for the death of other kids. Well, I really wouldn't call most of the Careers children. They want to kill, they seek out other opponents to eliminate them. As seen with them and Peeta, they're backstabbing and bloodthirsty. Katniss just kills to live. She doesn't want to be here like they do. She doesn't want to win for the fame and the glory, so her name will always be remembered. She just wants to live to keep her little sister alive and fed. Is that so horrible?

Lunch ends and I reluctantly leave the lunchroom. I feel more isolated now than ever. Now that Katniss is gone, a huge part of me is torn away and I feel very alone. Also, if I haven't closed off my emotions before, I'm doing it now. I've always attempted to be unreadable and hard, since that's the way I must be to survive here. But now, I'm completely calloused and nobody will be able to penetrate my mind, no matter how hard they may try.

I sit in a stupor for the remainder of my class periods. The girl who sits next to me in my sixth period is staring at me as I look at the clock, tapping my pencil against my desk. I don't care anymore what people think of me. I have usually been a very on task student. That's another thing that's changed about me.

Finally, the school day is over, but I still am summoned to detention. The principal has no sympathy for me whatsoever. I walk down to his office, bracing myself to another hour of not knowing the state of my best friend.

The principal welcomes me into his office with the fake, warm smile that he loves to wear. This time, I return it, putting as much falseness into the smile as I can. I hope the principal is smart enough to sense it.

After sixty intolerable minutes of homework and essays, I'm set free. I set off at a dead run to the woods, ignoring my growling stomach. Katniss is eating far less than me, so it doesn't matter, I'll live. Hunger isn't my biggest worry right now. Well, my hunger isn't. It's my job to make sure my family, and Katniss's family is eating. I don't matter. I just need to stay alive so I can feed the family.

I crawl into the woods and begin to collect food. I check my snares, finding a weasel, two rabbits and a small turkey like bird. Weasel isn't the most delicious meat in the world, but it's food, and that's my only concern. Immediately, I head out to gather berries and herbs.

A bird calls from a nearby tree and I stare up into the branches. It sits on a nest, cleaning its feathers. In spring time, Katniss, with her weight and agility, can scale trees and steal eggs from bird nests. She's like a squirrel that way. I smile at the thought. A real, genuine smile. It sounds cruel, to steal baby eggs from a bird's nest, but that's the point of hunting. Killing so you can live. Just like the Hunger Games. Except, I think the Hunger Games are far worse. Real human children forced to kill each other when they don't want to, don't need to. Hunting is to feed my family, and I think it's much less gruesome than throwing children in an arena to kill each other.

The sun is starting to set and I head out of the woods and to the Hob. The black market is full of traders and shopkeepers, willing to do anything for a small amount of pay. As I'm trading some herbs with Greasy Sae, I notice a tin can on her table with a sign above it that reads: Katniss Everdeen Sponsorship Fund! Please donate!

"What's that?" I ask, indicating to the can.

Greasy Sae smiles. "We're raising money for Katniss in the arena, to ensure she comes back home alive."

A rush of warmth fills me. People here really like Katniss for various reasons. She's the sister of Prim, so some people may donate off that. Also, she and I come to the Hob so frequently, and are the only people daring enough to hunt, so many people in the district would starve without us. Also, if Katniss wins, District 12 gets food. And maybe, people just have hearts and like Katniss enough to spare a coin.

I put a small coin in the bin, and feel sad that I'm not donating more. But I'm doing Katniss a bigger favor by keeping her family alive. She'd want me to put them first.

I turn away and head home with my trades, thinking of how this could be a scam. People could be so desperate for money, that they set up a charity, but really take the profits home. I shake my head and dismiss the thought. Greasy Sae and the people at the Hob aren't impetuous scum that would do something like that. They have genuine, human hearts.

I get home and retire to a chair by the television, like a normally do. I look at my mother expectantly and she gives a smile and a nod. Katniss is alive.

I turn my focus to the games. Katniss is high in a tree, where she is relatively safe. But at the base of the tree, is the Career pack. My stomach spins. They'll wait for her. She's going to have to either take them all out, stay in the tree and die or get killed by them. She's trapped.

"Mom, how long have they been at the tree?" I ask, knowing my mother has been watching the games.

"A little while." my mother says. "They've tried everything, shooting arrows, climbing the tree, but none of it has worked."

A smirk crosses my face. The Careers can't get Katniss by coming after her. But they can wait for her to leave the tree, and if she does, she's dead for certain.

"What weapons does Katniss have?" I ask.

"Just her knife." my mother replies.

My heart sinks. She can't take out six people with just a knife. Especially not the Careers, who are all considerably larger than Katniss.

"Oh, and she has an arrow than a girl shot at her, but no bow." my mother says.

If Katniss had a bow, she could take out six people.

Then, the camera cuts to Rue, the youngest tribute, hiding high in a tree. Then, I notice that it's the tree right beside Katniss. The Careers must not have seen the small figure, and Katniss doesn't seem aware of her either. The thought that the tiny girl knows where Katniss is disturbs me. Does she have the weapons or the audacity to take out Katniss right here? I don't think she has weapons, but I'm not sure. The only comfort to me is that if she kills Katniss, the Careers will know she's there. She must be smart enough to have figured that out already.

The night approaches with no deaths so far. My mother makes me eat something at least, and the only thing that makes me force the food down my throat is her worry. I wouldn't eat if she didn't care so much. But she does care. She loves me, Rory, Vick and Posy more than anything. And she worries constantly. My eating will just add less stress to my mother's life. And so I devour a small meal unenthusiastically.

Then, the camera cuts to Katniss, who looks at Rue. Then, it shows Rue, pointing her finger above Katniss. The screen closes in on a wasp nest, dangling some fifteen feet above Katniss's head. Then I realize it's no ordinary wasp nest. It's a tracker jacker nest. Tracker jackers were produced in a lab by the Capitol, during the war between them and the districts. They were placed around the districts to wreak havoc among them. Tracker jackers are much bigger than your average wasp, and they have an undeniable gold body. Their stings are huge, the size of a tiny apple. A lot of people die after a few stings, if not right after the first. The poison in the stings causes hallucinations, and can drive people crazy. If you meddle with a tracker jacker nest or threaten or hurt them, they track you down. That's where they get the tracker part of their name. It's not a pretty picture.

The Capitol, the loving Capitol, got rid of the nests around their city after the war. But they were so kind to leave the nests around the districts alive. Probably to keep us straightened out, to remind the districts that the Capitol is much more powerful than they are.

If Katniss and I ever come across a nest in the woods, we always get as far away from it as soon as possible. Tracker jackers are deadly.

Katniss takes her knife and scuttles farther up the tree. What the hell is she doing? Then I know. She's going to cut down the nest. It's a risky maneuver, but it will definitely pay off if the nest lands on the Career pack. But if it doesn't, they'll track down Katniss and she'll be guaranteed dead. It may just be the only way out.

Then, before anything else dramatic happens, the anthem plays with no death scenes for us.

"No!" I shout, alarming my mother.

I can't wait until morning to know what happens. The pressure is sure to near kill me in the night. But I can't make the program continue, no matter what I do. I'll just have to wait.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen 

I stare at the television for a few miserable seconds. No! It can't leave off right here! I wait for a while, in ludicrous hope that the television might spring back on and show Katniss. As I know deep it my heart, it doesn't.

I go to bed but not to sleep. How can I sleep when my best friend might be lying dead in a meadow, covered in huge bee stings and oozing green puss? How can I sleep when Katniss could be going crazy, hallucinating and dying a slow, mad, painful death?

I stare out my window. I always thought of how unfortunate I was. A big family, a dead father, no money. But I take risks. I hunt. So many families don't hunt and they don't get food and they literally starve to death. Katniss is in the Hunger Games now. I can't take that. I just simply can't. I want her back so much, I'd do anything. If Katniss's safety meant me jumping into a pile of poisonous snakes I'd do it. At least death by being bitten by a snake wouldn't be as painful as watching the games now.

I toss and turn for hours, disturbed by thoughts that cut me open and eat me alive. I can barely keep my eyes open. My lids creep their way down, getting heavier by the second. But every time my eyes close I see Katniss's mangled body laying in the grass, twisted and disfigured, her empty eyes staring in the sky.

After hours of worry and nightmares, the light comes into my room. The light that brings news of Katniss.

I bound out of bed and turn on the television for the recap. Nobody died last night, but Katniss got some burn cream as a gift from Haymitch. That's good that he's sensible enough to send her things. Katniss has started sawing the wasp nest, but she hasn't finished. Has she given up? I don't know because that's all that the recap shows, and I'm left to ponder until the Hunger Games show live.

I wait for the few minutes between the recap and the start of the daily showing of the games. Could it be any longer?

"Gale." my mother walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. It's that urgent voice again.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Tell me the truth." my mother says. Her eyes are pleading. "Do you eat at school?"

A knot of guilt and hunger ties up in my stomach as I analyze my mother's question. Lying would comfort her, but do I have any option but telling the truth. Yes, I can make my mother not worry.

"Yes." I say softly.

My mother nods her head, but her eyes don't believe me.

"Eat breakfast. Now." she says.

I nod and go to the kitchen. I'm hungry, but I don't want to eat. Children starve all around me! Why not let Rory, Vick and Posy eat more? Katniss doesn't eat much at all in the Hunger Games! Why me? I don't say any of this to my mother, she'll have plenty of reason to argue. So I eat some bread and fruit, not to satisfy my stomach, but to satisfy my mom.

Then, the Hunger Games return. I'm by the television in a second.

Katniss is up in the tree, sawing her way through the wasp nest. A low, distinctive hum can be heard emanating from the hive. Katniss needs to work quickly. Dawn is approaching and there's not much time before the Careers will wake up.

Katniss saws at the nest, desperate to make it fall before the wasps realize what's happening or the Careers wake up. Katniss gives the branch one final saw before it detaches from the tree. She throws it away from her and it falls through the branches, getting caught for a second here or there, but it lands right in the middle of the unsuspecting Careers.

The camera cuts back to Kantiss who has been stung a few times by tracker jackers that escaped the nest before its descent. She has the sense to remove some of the stingers and still cling onto the tree. I don't think she'll die from three stings, but you never know. The effects of tracker jacker venom are pretty gruesome.

The tracker jacker nest splits open by the Careers. They all wake with a start. Some of the Careers scream and try to pick up valuable items, but a few, like Peeta, are smart and run out of the area as fast as they can.

"To the lake! To the lake!" they scream.

The girl, Glimmer, from District 1 seems hopeless. She and the girl from District 4 have been stung a few times in their desperate hope save weapons and food. Glimmer screams and jabs her arrow at the oncoming wasps in futile attempt to rid herself of the pests.

"Help! Help me!" Glimmer cries as the wasps proceed to sting her.

A twinge of guilt fills me as I remember that even the Careers are humans.

The girl from District 4 doesn't even look back, she continues to run away from her ally, who is dying horribly from wasp stings.

The camera follows the girl from District 4, the one who abandoned Glimmer. She runs, but wasps follow her. The stings must be getting to her head. She goes for a little while, limping, staggering, before falling to her knees. She tries to push herself back up, but when she does, she falls again.

I turn my head. This is too hard to watch. People trying to cling to life, going insane, but still, they persist to live. Can't the Capitol see what they're doing? Can't they see how wretched, how vile and cruel they are?

The camera cuts back to Glimmer who is twitching on the ground. She's a goner for certain.

Then, it shows Katniss, scuttling down from her tree and running away, back to the pond that she soaked her calf in. She wobbles slightly, but she's able to make it to the pond. I think she's going to be okay. For a moment, I'm content, until I realize that Glimmer has the bow and arrows. The bow! The only chance of Katniss making it through this! The bow is the reason I've had as much hope as I do! Katniss needs that bow.

Then, before I know if Katniss is realizing what I do, the camera goes to the other Careers, who've made it to the lake. Panting and oozing with green liquid, they submerge themselves in water in hopes to elude the wasps. It does do some good, and some of the Careers are better off than others. I don't think any of these will die like Glimmer and the girl from District 4 will.

Finally, the camera cuts back to Katniss. She is out of the pond, making her way to Glimmer. Glimmer isn't dead yet, but she is in some sort of coma will be dead soon. Katniss has to make it to her fast, to get the bow before Glimmer dies and the hovercraft picks her up, picks the bow up.

Katniss reaches Glimmer, but something is wrong with her. When she tries to turn Glimmer's body, a look of horror and shock crosses her face and she looks like she's going to be sick.

Glimmer isn't a pretty sight either. Now, dead, she's covered in huge lumps, bursting with green ooze. She's swollen and pretty much messed up. A sight that makes me want to lose my small breakfast. It's so different from the girl I saw on the night of the interviews, the pretty girl so seductive in her golden dress…now I can't stand to look at her.

Katniss breaks Glimmer's fingers with a rock and tries to turn her over to retrieve the bow. She falls to the ground, having seen something that I haven't. Keep going!

Then, a cannon shot rings grimly through the air and I know that the District 4 girl is dead. The camera cuts to her briefly, showing her body, twisted and disfigured as Glimmer's, lying alone in a puddle of ooze.

The camera cuts back to Katniss, who is breathing extremely rapidly. She forces Glimmer onto her stomach. She manages to grab the sheath of arrows, and tear it from Glimmer's possession. Katniss has the bow. Katniss has a chance. Katniss can win.

Then, the camera cuts to a few Careers, who are running madly in Katniss's direction. Peeta, poised to throw his spear, bursts through the trees and to Katniss. No! If he kills her now, I swear he will die an ignominious fate, being hated by most of District 12, including me. But Peeta doesn't throw his spear. His arm hangs limply at his side. What?

"What are you still doing here?" he snaps. He's gotten stung a few times, but I'm not concentrating on that.

Katniss stares blankly up at Peeta.

"Are you mad?" Peeta asks, poking Katniss with the wooden end of his spear. "Get up! Get up!"

Katniss gets up and I can tell she's confused. Just as confused as I am.

"Run! Run!" Peeta screams, pushing Katniss away from him.

Katniss runs away uncertainly, but fast. She clutches onto the bow and arrows for dear life, because without them, her chances of winning are slim. But with the precious bow and arrows, she can take out every single tribute in the games. She crashes beyond her pool and into the woods. Something is terribly wrong. She staggers, trips, falls, but she keeps going. Horror, confusion, and fear cross her face and I know that the hallucinations have begun. This can't be good.

The camera cuts to Cato, the boy from District 2, who is now with Peeta.

"Where is she? Where is she?!" he screams at Peeta.

Peeta's face goes white.

"You let her get away! She was right there!" Cato yells. He is furious, no doubt about it.

Peeta says nothing. He stands still, bracing what comes next.

Cato draws his sword, steaming.

Peeta raises his spear, hands shaking.

Cato yells and lunges at Peeta, his sword splitting Peeta's spear in half. With a single swipe of the dull end of Cato's sword, Peeta is on the ground. And I know this is it. Peeta will be dead and Katniss will be our district's only hope.

"What are you going to do now, lover boy?" Cato sneers. "It doesn't matter that your girlfriend got away, I'll catch up to her soon. You know what? I don't think your death will be quick…I may even give you time to say goodbye to your Katniss before you die…unless she dies first."

What kind of sick person is this boy? I don't like this at all. Even thought I know it's easier for Peeta to die, and I'm fine with him dying, I can't believe that Cato could be so cruel and heartless.

Cato slashes his sword against Peeta's leg. Peeta cries out in anguish and I think of his brother, the one that sits by me at lunch, the brother who is probably staring at his television with the guilty blue eyes that connected with my gray ones.

Cato laughs and runs the other way, retreating to his lake. He starts to totter. The Careers must be experiencing the affects of the tracker jacker stings.

"Gale." my mother calls.

"Huh?" I ask.

"School." she says.

I get up and get ready to go. I quickly check the time. Dang it! I've stayed longer by the television than most days, and I'll probably have to run to make it to school.

In a matter of minutes, I'm out the door, running. School isn't school anymore. School now is the few hours leading up to lunchtime when I'll be able to see Katniss. And in those few hours, I can do nothing but think of her.

Lunchtime comes and I almost sprint to the lunchroom. I stop before I get to the lunch line, remembering my mother's pleading voice and how she wanted me to eat food. I'd be letting her down by passing up lunch again, but I can't waste any time. So, disregarding my mother's urgency, I sit down to watch the television.

The screen shows tiny Rue, up in a tree, safe from the wasp stings. She must've cleared out of the area before Katniss cut the nest down.

Then, the Careers are shown. All of them are collapsed by the lake, going through some sort of convulsion. It's a sick sight to watch, even though I want the Careers to die, I don't want them to be tortured. Watching living things suffer is horrible, no matter the value of the living thing.

Peeta isn't with the Careers. Of course he isn't, he's probably bleeding to death right now in this moment, going through the same hallucinations that the rest of the tracker jacker victims are going through. In that state, he may be dead already.

I cast a glance over to Peeta's brother. He looks especially weary today. Tired and lost looking, his blue eyes look gray, almost like mine. I wonder if he thinks about the reaping day and how he could have saved his brother's life, but decided not to. I wonder if he thinks about Peeta, his younger brother, lying injured and bleeding, having hallucinations and seizures. It's no wonder he looks sick.

Now it's my turn to be sick. The camera cuts to Katniss who is sitting down by a tree, her head jerking and her eyes fluttering open and closed. She trashes wildly and something inside of me is stabbed with a sort of terrible pain. A soft moan escapes my lips.

"No, Katniss, no." I say.

What can Katniss be seeing right now? Prim dying for sure, that's her biggest fear. My stomach knots itself as I think about the torment she must be going through. It would be like me watching Rory, Vick and Posy die, I couldn't take it. How can Katniss? Damn, it! Why can't I be in the arena, not her? Please, please, don't let Katniss go through this.

I slam my fist on the table as I watch Katniss twitch and writhe. A sob shakes my body but I refuse to let the tears fall. Not here, not now.

And just like that, lunch is over. But I don't head to class, I head straight to the bathroom. I don't know why I do, but I can't sit in class while Katniss is like this. I just sink to the floor of the bathroom and stare at the wall. I can't just sit here and immerse myself in pain, but I can't just go to class. Not this time. I just simply can't.

"Gale?" I don't need to look up to know that Cormack has walked into the bathroom.

He takes a seat beside me.

"The teacher asked me to come get you." his voice is awkward, but he continues to talk to me, like any friend. "And I knew you were in here."

"Did you see her?" I ask. There's a strange, hollow tone to my voice.

"Yeah, I did." Cormack says.

We pause for a second. No further words are needed.

"Can you make it through class?" Cormack asks.

"What kind of question is that?" I snap. "Of course I can."

I rise and walk out of the bathroom, leaving Cormack to come follow me. Now is the time to put on my mask.

I walk into class, every single pair of eyes are focused on me. I sit down in my desk like nothing out of the ordinary ever happened.

Cormack comes into the room a few seconds after me and sits down, too.

The teacher teaches class again, and I know some kids are still staring. I'll let them stare. They can think whatever they want. All I care about is Katniss.

School ends and I go to my last detention. After this, I will never have to come here when school is over again.

"Skipping class, too, Mr. Hawthorne?" the principal asks me as I walk in.

My fists clench and I bite down very hard. I can't afford to ruin this now.

"I'm sorry." I say.

To my surprise, the principal doesn't say anything. He just sits by his desk as I pretend to do my homework. I manage to get a little done, but I can't focus.

Finally the hour is over and I'm free from detention forever. I quickly head to the woods. I catch a few fish and gather some food. The distraction is making me blunder through the woods with more noise than usual. I used to could just glide through with a bodacious stealth and ease. Now, I can't stop thinking about Katniss, being tortured at this very moment, twisting and turning, going through a pain I've never known.

Once I'm done hunting I head to the Hob, the haunting thoughts still lingering over me, pushing down on me harder and harder as I walk further. Surely the people here have seen what's been done to Katniss, because they watch the games, everybody watches the games. Each year, two tributes have the possibility of bringing us extra food, food that we need so much, food that our starving people will never see. But each year, we're just disappointed again, because only two District 12 tributes have ever won, only two tributes have ever come home and brought the emaciated bodies more food.

Nobody says a word about Katniss, except for the tin can that still sits, waiting for donations. Katniss's can. She may never get the chance to know what this district is doing for her.

Stop! I order myself. I can't think like this, Katniss can't die! She's going to win and she's going to come home. I'll have my Catnip back soon enough. But something deep inside me views those words as quixotic, unreal. Something deep inside of me doubts them, and whatever that something is, it's scaring me greatly. The thing that really scares me is that I don't know whether to believe myself or not.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen 

I get home, only to find Katniss still going through seizures and hallucinations. Why does this go on so long? It must've been twelve hours that this was happening! And it doesn't look like it's subsiding at all. A crazy thought pierces my mind. What if it just goes on like this forever? I don't want to think about that. I think Katniss would rather be dead than go through this forever. If she dies, I want it to be quick. Quick and painless. What the hell am I doing? I'm wishing for Katniss's death? No, Katniss can't die and she won't. She's going to make it home and everything will be better. But I know I'm lying to myself. Everything isn't going to be better even if Katniss comes home. If she comes home, the Capitol will still be cruel and people will still die. If Katniss comes home, she might be so changed, she won't even want to talk to me. I shudder when I think about the countless victors who've come home crazy. I don't want Katniss to become like that.

It's time for the Hunger Games to end today, and Katniss is still in her hallucinating stage. I hope with all that I can hope that Katniss is just blacked out, that's she's not seeing horrible things this whole time. But I know it's futile. The Hunger Games are meant to be torture.

I go to bed, counting the living tributes on my fingers. There's Katniss, what's left of the Career pack, Peeta, Rue, Thresh…and a few others who I can't name. My heart quickens. Rue, Thresh and a few other tributes, like the girl from District 5 I think, haven't been stung. So that means that life continues on for those lucky tributes, while Katniss and the Careers lie on the ground, helpless and completely vulnerable. What easy prey they are! Even little Rue could just come up to them and kill them, barely lifting a finger! It's a miracle they're still alive…if they're still alive.

The night drags on and I'm haunted by the thought of Katniss under that tree…seeing who knows what replay in her mind like a horror film. My tired eyes force their way closed and I'm engrossed in a world of darkness.

_I'm running through a forest. Running. Perspiration lines my brow but I don't take the time to wipe it off. I need to get there. I need to get there. _

_Then I see her. Katniss. A warmth floods my body, making me run faster. She stands in a clearing, some fifteen yards away. _

_"Katniss!" I cry. "Katniss!" _

_I stumble forward, falling to the ground. "Katniss!" I get back up and continue surging forward. _

_But she doesn't see me. She's totally oblivious to my presence. Why doesn't she see me? _

_"Katniss!" _

_Then a dark, shadowy figure emerges from the trees with a bow. _

_"Katniss!" my happy, uniting cry turns into one of warning and anguish. _

_But Katniss pays no heed to my scream, she just continues to stand there, naïve as can be. _

_The dark figure lifts its bow, poised to shoot. _

_"No! No!" _

_He lets go, and a deadly arrow shoots through the air and pierces Katniss in the back. _

_"KATNISS!" I cry, finally reaching her body, just a moment too late. _

_Katniss rolls over in my arms, completely and utterly lifeless. Dead. _

_"NO! NO!" I cry, letting her limp body fall to the ground. This can't be happening. This can't happen!_

_Then I notice the dark figure, sprinting towards me. Before the light comes, I catch a glimpse of his face. Peeta Mellark. _

"Gale! Gale!"

My eyes snap open and I'm staring up into the concerned face of my mother. It all comes back to me. The forest isn't real. Katniss isn't dead. I'm lying in bed, covered in sweat, my heart beating rapidly.

"Are you okay?" my mother asks.

"Yeah…I'm fine." I say, sitting up.

I haven't had serious nightmares since right after my father died. I have a horrible intuition that this one won't be the last one.

"You were screaming and moaning in your sleep." my mother says. She looks worried. I hate it when she's worried.

I feel myself turn red from embarrassment.

"Oh…" I say, trailing off. "That's strange."

I look over at Rory and Vick who are also both sitting up in their bed.

"I woke the whole house up, didn't I?" I say.

Posy's crying from the next room confirms my assumption.

"Are you going to be okay?" my mother asks me, shooting a nervous glance to the door.

"Yeah, I got over nightmares when I was three." I say with a grin. "I think I can handle this."

"Okay then." my mother says, getting up to leave the room.

I stay awake the remainder of the night, unbothered by the rest of my family, or nightmares.

Then I think of something I haven't thought of before. Why was it Peeta Mellark's face I saw? What do I have against him? Well, he said he loved Katniss, so that might be something. But he saved her life, why would he kill her in my dream? I shake it off, dreams never used to mean anything. They're just random things I think about when I'm sleeping. I shouldn't fret over this.

It's only a few hours until morning, and when the soft light enters my room, it's my cue to go to the television. This is routine for me.

I turn on the television, and to my dismay, Katniss and the Careers are still in their seemingly perpetual state of hallucinating. They're all alive, though, but I know they won't be for long. Someone is bound to kill them. Then a disturbing thought crosses my mind. They need food and water. A person can only go three days without water, and is that small amount of time shortened in the state that they're in? It's already almost been a whole day. Also, the Capitol people will be getting bored with this, the Gamemakers may have to do something about it.

It's time for me to head to school, and nobody has woken up from the hallucination. Nobody does for the rest of the day. I go to school and at lunchtime, everything is just how it was when I left it basically.

I don't have to go to detention today, so I get more hunting time. I get a good haul. Four rabbits, two small turkeys and some plums and herbs. But when I return to my house, Katniss is still in her state. Why won't this stop? I've never been around someone with the effects of the tracker jacker stings, and I'm glad of it. It's horrible. I even scare myself by starting to beg for it to be over. Part of me just wants Katniss to die. Then it will be over and I won't have to worry. I won't have to see her twitching and writhing on the ground for hours on end, stuck in some sort of horrible nightmare. The majority of me is stubborn and level headed. Katniss can't die. I won't let her. No matter what it takes she is going to make it back home. I hate these arguments between myself, being torn between the easy way out and what I really want. But it's hard to know what I really want anymore. I've seen plenty of people with family members and friends in the arena, fazed by their loved one's department. Some people just try to brush it all off and act tough, some people try to forget about it, some people cry their eyes out every minute, and some people just loose hope and beg for death to come quickly. I don't want to be any of those people, but then really, what can I be? I know what I can be. I can be the person who knows Katniss is going to win, the person who is breaking the law out hunting in the woods to feed her family until she does. That's who I'm going to be.

The day goes by quickly and I find myself lying in bed, staring once more at my ceiling. I don't know how much more I can take of this. Everybody has a breaking point and through these years I've just been bent as far as I can go. It's the Capitol's doing. They can never be forgiven and they have to go.

Somewhere in my train of raging thoughts, I slip away, too tired to hate much longer.

I wake up, it's Saturday and I know I can go hunting today and get a good haul. With that, I lift myself out of bed and once again, wait for the recap to start. I have to wait a few minutes, but the recap comes on and I hold my breath. The television quickly shows all of the tributes and my heart drops. Katniss is still going through convulsions. It's been almost two days! She's going to need water soon!

But I don't say anything. I just turn the television off and pack a lunch for myself. My stomach growls and I realize how little I've been eating recently. Even if I don't want to eat, my body is begging for more food. I'm an eighteen year old male, I need to eat sometime. I quickly grab a chuck of bread and cheese and decide to eat on my way to the woods. My mother knows I'll be gone.

I make it to the woods, promising myself to get a good haul today. I don't want any of my siblings to go to bed hungry, or Prim or Mrs. Everdeen.

I check my snares and find five rabbits, a turkey, and a beaver. I designed a wire contraption to place in lakes and ponds so beavers and muskrats can get caught in them, too. I have to give myself credit for that one, it has gotten us a lot of extra money.

Then, I pick berries and herbs. This is my least favorite part of hunting. It's slow, tedious work. Find a plant. Observe the plant. Check in the book if the plant is safe to eat. Pick the plant. But I can't complain. It feeds my family and that's all I need.

I wonder if the people in the Capitol have ever hunted. Probably not. They just probably raise all of their animals in farms, crowded together, bred to be slaughtered. Or they order meat from other districts. The Capitol people wouldn't do work. They just simply couldn't bear the thought of it. If the Capitol people ever hunted, it would probably be for fun, considering how much they like to kill. Hunting for fun. That's sick. I can only imagine a person standing there with a gun, shooting away at animals and leaving their dead bodies to lie purposeless and wasted while children are starving here.

Finally, it's been a few hours and I head down to the Hob.

"Heard anything about Katniss?" I ask Greasy Sae as I head up to trade with her. I don't know why I've asked her this, since I don't like to talk about Katniss to anyone. I guess I'm just so desperate for it all to be over, I just need to know anything if I can.

"Not since this morning." Greasy Sae says with a pained smile.

I nod grimly and place my trades on her counter. When I'm done at the Hob, I head home. I really wish I was in the arena right now, not Katniss. I still can't believe it. Katniss can't be in that arena! But she is and nothing that I try to make myself believe will change it.

"Gale! Gale!" my mother cries as I walk into the house.

My heartbeat quickens. What is it? Is Katniss dead? I hurry to the television where Katniss is sitting up, looking around her slowly.

"It's over?!" I ask and yelp at the same time.

"I think so, the seizures were subsiding the past few minutes and she slowly sat up." my mother tells me.

Katniss stretches and grabs her water bottle. I still can't believe it. Two days of those dreadful hallucinations and it's over. She's alive! She's alive! My whole body is screaming with joy, but I just smile and sit down.

"I was so scared someone would kill her in that stage." my mother says.

So was I, but I'm not going to voice my fear. I just sit and watch as Katniss sips her precious water and eats some wild honeysuckle. Good. She has to have come to her senses. She still has all of her supplies and the bow. The bow. The bow is the key to Katniss winning. She needs every single arrow she has.

The camera cuts to the Careers at the lake. Cato and the girl from District 2 are slowly waking. Something drops inside of me because I'd hoped that they'd died.

"Clove…." Cato says wearily. "Clove…"

The girl from District 2 lifts her head and smiles.

"How long have we been out?" she asks.

"I don't know." Cato says. "It must've been at least a day…maybe longer…"

Clove must be the name of the girl from District 2.

"Is Marvel awake?" Cato asks.

They both glance at the boy from District 1, who's convulsions seem to be wearing down.

"No, but he better be soon." Clove says. I get the nasty feeling that they might kill him if he doesn't wake up.

With that, the Careers head over to their monstrous supply of food and begin to eat.

"Cato? Clove?" the boy from District 1 says, finally awake. "Were you…hallucinating, too?"

They both nod as the boy heads over to join them.

There's a rustle in the nearby bushes and the Careers jump to their feet.

"What's that?" Clove asks.

"I don't know, get weapons." Cato says.

The three Careers arm themselves and head out to the bushes, poised to kill.

"There he is!" the boy from District 1, Marvel, shouts. He's pointing at a skinny figure, cowering in the bushes who I think is the boy from District 3.

"Wait!" the District 3 boy cries.

The Careers don't lunge at him, but their weapons are ready.

"Why?" Cato mocks. "Why shouldn't I just kill you now?"

"Because I can protect your food." the boy says. "Some of the tributes have been eating off it when you were all…out."

Cato's face turns red. "How can you help us?" His voice turns from mocking to demanding.

"It's easy." the boy says. "I've devised a simple, simple but deadly, mine system we can place around your stock. Then only if you know the correct pathway can you access the possessions. Any outsider who tries to steal from you will be blown to bits."

"Oh, really?" Marvel asks, relaxing his muscles slightly.

"What do you want for this?" Cato barks, not relaxing one bit.

"Protection and use of your supplies." the boy from District 3 says confidently.

"Show us how it works and we'll let you in." Clove says.

With that, the boy from District 3 gets up out of the bushes and heads over to the pile of supplies, the Careers following cautiously behind.

District 3 is technology. Everyone there is exceptionally smart. Many District 3 tributes have come up with inventions and smart ways to kill their enemies, that's why you should never rule them out. But then again, District 3 is usually all brain, and no brawn.

The camera cuts to Katniss, who is hunting in the woods with her bow. With her bow, she'll be able to get a lot of food. A rabbit and some sort of bird are already dangling off her back. That comforts me. Katniss is skinny enough already, and in these past days of the Hunger Games, she seems to be getting even thinner. She hasn't eaten a thing in two days.

A twig snaps and Katniss wheels around, bow ready. She stands there for a second, ready to kill, but then her arms drop to her sides and she smiles. What can she see?

"You know, they're not the only ones who can form alliances." Katniss says.

For a moment, I'm confused, but then the camera cuts to Rue, who is hiding behind a nearby tree.

"You want me for an ally?" the little girl asks, peering from behind her hideout.

"Why not? You saved me with those tracker jackers. You're smart enough to still be alive. And I can't seem to shake you anyway." Katniss says. "You hungry? Come on then, I've had two kills today."

Rue hesitantly steps out, revealing herself. "I can fix your stings." she says.

"Can you?" Katniss asks. "How?"

Rue digs in her bag and takes out some leaves.

"Where'd you find those?" Katniss asks.

"Just around. We all carry them when we work in the orchards. They left a lot of nests there, there are a lot here, too." Rue says.

"That's right. You're District Eleven. Agriculture." Katniss says.

I watch as Katniss and Rue make conversation, talking about how Rue must be good at swinging from tree to tree because she worked in orchards. Then, Rue chews up the leaves and places the green mush on Katniss's stings. Katniss looks immensely relieved almost the instant the remedy touches her wasp stings. Then, Katniss gives some of her burn cream to Rue to treat burns on her arm. They then eat a meal consisting of a bird called a groosling, and some herbs and berries that Rue has picks. Then, the camera cuts away to other tributes.

I don't know how I feel about Katniss teaming up with Rue. Rue seems smart enough, and she will certainly be a help to Katniss, so that's a bonus. My main concern is what lengths Katniss will go to protect Rue. Rue is so small, she reminds me of Prim so much, and Katniss loves Prim above anything else. She might get caught up in the fact that Rue is like Prim, and she might sacrifice herself for her. I don't want Katniss to do that, I really don't. But a sick feeling in my stomach tells me it's a highly possible outcome.

"What happened to Peeta?" I ask suddenly. For some reason, I want him gone. The thought of him existing with Katniss just doesn't seem right. I don't want her to have to kill him, and I don't want to have to watch him almost win, and die at the end. The less time I have to feel guilty about him, the better.

"He woke up, too." my mother says. "He got something to eat and drink and headed off somewhere. His leg doesn't look so good."

Then I remember Cato slashing open Peeta's leg and I wince. He must've had time to wrap up that leg sometime, or he would have bled out during the hallucinations.

I catch one more glimpse of Katniss and Rue, who are nestled in Katniss's sleeping bag, and then the anthem plays. No deaths today.

I'd like to think the worst is over. But I know it isn't.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen 

My eyes snap open. Katniss! For a sick moment in my mind, I see her twitching and writhing under the tree once more, and my heart races. But then I remember yesterday, she was up and moving. It's over. But could yesterday have been just a dream? That would be ironic, since I'm living life trapped inside of a nightmare.

I pull myself out of bed, careful not to wake my brothers. I need to make sure Katniss isn't still hallucinating. I turn on the television and wait for the recap.

The screen depicts the boy from District 10, the crippled one, leaning against a tree. It's sometime in the middle of the night, so this must've happened a while ago. Wait, the boy from District 10 is still alive? I didn't expect that he would last even this long with that leg of his.

I wonder why nobody volunteered for him. District 10 isn't usually full of winning tributes, but you'd think somebody would take the place of this disabled boy. But no, maybe people thought it was better. Maybe they thought that he might not make it well in the real world, so they might as well just dispose of him here. The thought of it angers me. But it's true, when his name was called, nobody probably expected him to get out alive. I certainly didn't.

Then, the boy's head jerks up and he looks around wildly. Someone is near. He hastens to gather his supplies. He takes off, or tries to, at least. He drags his foot along in a series of limp hops, finally crashing to the ground. He clumsily gathers his things together, but it's too late.

Cruel laughter erupts from somewhere off the screen. The Careers. I can see why tributes would kill other tributes because they have to, but I don't see how tributes would hunt down other people…and like it. The Careers relish every kill. They have fun doing this. People in the Careers districts _aspire _to be tributes. I hold almost as much contempt for them as I do the Capitol, but if I had to choose I'd say the Capitol is worse. The Capitol created the Careers and the Hunger Games, if it weren't for the Capitol, I would have no reason to hate these kids.

The boy on the ground looks up as a few Careers close in on him. His eyes are wide and full of fear. He glances towards his supplies, probably deciding whether or not to try to save them. He looks back up at the Careers and lies still on the ground, accepting his fate.

"I still can't believe it you made it this long, with that foot." Cato says, nodding to the boy's leg. "Bravo, for that."

"I wouldn't let it stop me." the boy says, his voice wavering.

"Well, it's stopping you now, isn't it?" Clove says with a shrill laugh.

I want to kill her. I want to kill her right now.

The boy on the ground says nothing. He stares at his leg with a look of torment on his face. He looks back up at the Careers who are waiting for him to reply.

A twig snaps and the boy pushes himself off the ground, propelling himself as far as he can in a desperate attempt to evade his assailants.

Almost effortlessly, Cato thrusts his sword forward and through the boy. A cannon fires and I know the boy is dead instantly.

Suddenly, I feel bad for the crippled boy's family. He seemed brave, young, determined. He must be only fourteen or so. It's horrible to watch him die like this…then I think of Katniss. I don't want to watch her die like this, I really don't. I'd rather die like this than watch it happen to Katniss.

Cato draws his sword from the dead boy's back and wipes the blood from it, acting like he had just cut through a piece of meat.

"Shame, that kid had spirit." Cato says half-heartedly. "Oh well, another down, eight more to go."

Eight more to go. There must be nine tributes right now. Yes. Katniss, Peeta, Rue, Thresh, Cato, Clove, Marvel, the girl from District 5 and the boy from District 3. Nine tributes.

I shiver. It's getting close to the end. Soon, there will be one tribute standing. Soon, I will know if I ever get to see Katniss again. Soon seems way to close…but way too far away.

The television fades and I know that must be all that happened last night that was worth showing. Every day that Katniss lives is no less special than the day before. Katniss is alive. The thought of that is invigorating enough to get me through each day.

I go back to my room to get ready for the day. It's Sunday, so that means I will need to bring home a lot of food today. I need to go hunting. I quickly pack myself a lunch and slip out the front door.

As I'm walking to the woods, it occurs to me that I only have a few days of school left. To most people, this would be a shocking, sentimental time. But school is the least of my concerns right now. I just want it to be over with so I have more time for hunting. More time for watching Katniss.

I make it to the woods without encountering a single person. That's always nice. No worries. No delays. I wriggle under the fence and head off to find food.

Deciding to fish, I head down to the lake. I make a few stops on the way when I see berries and herbs I recognize.

I cast my hook out far into the lake and plop down on the sandy shore. Fishing is a nice way to take a break. I can sit and soak in the sun as I wait for a bite. It's not good for impatient people, though, well, any form of hunting requires patience.

My homemade bobber disappears under the water and doesn't float back to the surface. I grab my rod, jerk it back and reel in.

The fish I catch flops as desperately as it can. I think of how helpless it is, kind of like the tributes. Hooked, reeled in and brought to a disgusting end. I take the fish off the hook, and for a moment, I consider letting it go. Then I see the gaunt faces of so many starving people in District 12, and then my family, who I never want to see like that. I grasp the wiggling fish tighter and place it on the shore, where I hammer a rock into its head so it dies quickly. I then place it farther back in the sand, just in case I didn't kill it and it tries to flop back into the water.

The sun glares down on me as I wait for my next bite. In the next few hours, I catch a good amount of fish.

I tie my fish together by a hook through their mouth and toss them in my pack. It's about lunch time, so I take a few minutes to wash down the food I packed. I need every minute I can get to bring food home to my family and the Everdeens.

I still have plenty of time, so I decide to check my snares. By the time I've finished the trek, I've come off with a few kills. It could be worse, it could be better. It always is that way. Always except for the very first times I've hunted. That was years ago, when I was so young. Sometimes I wouldn't catch anything at all. But I learned, and quickly at that, where to place the traps, how to improve them, and all of the little meticulous things that make the difference between life and death. For both the hunter and the prey.

I leave the woods with my backpack bulging. It's no surprise to many people, mainly my customers, where I've been. But I still try to keep it all a secret, just in case word gets out to particularly strict law enforcement.

As I step into the Hob, I notice it's quieter than usual. I feel everyone's eyes on me, and hear their heavy breath. My heart leaps into my throat at the same time as my stomach seems to fall away from my body. Katniss is dead. I just know it.

I try to say something, but I can't choke anything out. I'm forced to stand here in this grim expectation with no way to find out what I don't want to know. Finally, someone speaks up.

"They're here." Greasy Sae says. "The people from the Capitol are here."

Now I'm confused. Confused and slightly relieved. Katniss isn't dead? Or is she? Did the Capitol come to drop off her body? No, they wouldn't get here this fast, Katniss was alive when I left for hunting.

"Why?" I eventually manage.

"There's nine tributes left, they're starting the interviews of Katniss's family and friends. They're supposed to start interviews when there's eight tributes, but in case somebody dies during interviews, they go to the families and ask questions assuming the tribute made it into the top eight. " Greasy Sae replies.

I breathe finally. Katniss has to be alive. But my moment of peace only lasts as long as it takes for my mind to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Reporters from the Capitol are here. They want to talk to Katniss's friends and family. They'll want to talk to me. If they're at my house, they'll wonder where I've been.

"I need to get home!" I say. Then I glance at my backpack. I can't be with the Capitol people with all these fresh kills. That's suicide. I'm going to have to trade everything away, and fast.

I buy everything I can with my haul, getting mostly money. I don't want the Capitol to be too leery of me coming home with bags full of food, especially if my mom tells the reporters I'm at a friend's house and I come back saying I went to the market. When I'm done I head home at a fast walk. I can't look nervous. Innocent people have nothing to be nervous about. And the Capitol needs to think I'm innocent. For my family's sake, for Prim and Mrs. Everdeen's sake…for even Katniss's sake.

I reach my front door and turn the knob. My mother, Vick and Rory all turn their heads sharply as I step into the house.

"Oh, it's just you, Gale." my mother exhales. Then she tenses up again. "We need to hide your haul."

"I know." I say quickly, hurrying to my room. "But don't worry, I've traded most of it at the Hob, so it won't be too suspicious."

My mother nods fervently.

I toss my pack on my bed in my room and sit down at the table with the rest of my family. My mother, Vick and Rory all look nervous. Posy wiggles around with happy ignorance. If only we all were that way.

"So you know they're here?" I say.

"Yes, we've heard." my mother replies.

"Who's here? Who's coming?" Posy pipes up.

My mom's voice turns higher and happier. "Reporters from the Capitol, they might come and talk to us. Remember, be nice and polite to strangers."

I don't want to know what the Capitol would do to Posy if she said something about the Capitol that could've slipped out of my mouth sometime. Kids have a wonderful memory for just the things you wish they don't know. That's why I don't try to express my hatred of the Capitol around my siblings.

Then, I realize I don't know for sure the answer to what I want to know.

"Katniss is alive?"

"Yes, she's fine." my mother glances at the television, on which the Hunger Games is playing.

Just as I get up to go watch, I hear a knock on the door. They're here. I pivot, changing directions, and head back to the door. I open it gingerly.

Outside, on my front step, stand some of the very people I hate most. I wish I could lock my hands around their necks and throttle them until they turn blue. Instead, I stand there quietly, surveying my enemies.

There are three of the nasty varmints. One is a woman holding a microphone. She has long scarlet hair that goes down to her waist, and her face is layered with makeup. Another is a man with a camera that is attached by a cord to the microphone. His hair is jet black and spiked up unnaturally. He looks way too tan to be real, almost orange. The third is a brawny man who looks like he may have weapons in his belt. His muscular arms are covered in tattoos. I won't let him scare me.

"Is this the Hawthorne residence?" the woman asks in a sweet voice.

"Yes." I reply hollowly.

"I take it you're Gale Hawthorne." the woman says.

"Yes." I say with just as much emotion as my first answer.

The woman sticks out her hand to shake mine. I pretend not to notice. I'm not going to smile and be giddy for the cameras. I'm going to show them how much I hate them without crossing the line. They've taken everything from me, and they don't deserve to get anything more. But I won't put my family at risk, that's the last thing I need to do.

The woman takes her hand back after a few moments, an awkward look taking over her guaranteed artificial face.

"I'm Vatillia Bloom, a reporter from the Capitol." the woman says. "I'm just here to ask you a few questions, regarding your cousin, alias Hunger Games tribute, Katniss Everdeen."

Cousin? Where the hell did that come from?

"We're not cousins." I say.

The brawny man steps forward and looks me hard in the eye.

"As of now, you are. No questions asked." he says. Then, he glances over at my family sitting at the table. "Those are your siblings?" he asks.

I nod, giving the man a look that says, _Go near them and I'll kill you_.

Then, the man says nothing.

I know this is a silent threat to my family and now I know this is serious. With Peeta and Katniss being "in love" and all, the Capitol probably figured it wouldn't be right for Katniss's best friend to be a boy. No, that would be too complicated, and that would raise suspicions. So why not make it impossible for Katniss and the boy to have anything together and make him her cousin? So simple. So genius. I don't think so. But I have to pretend, if I want my family safe. And that's the most important thing.

"Okay, so now we're going to turn on the camera and ask you a few questions, Gale. We're going to ask them as if Katniss has already made the top eight." Vatilla says gleefully, pretending that there's not tension or hatred between all of us. "This is not live, so this may or may not appear on television."

I give her a small nod.

The woman steps over by me and the camera follows us both. The large man walks behind the cameraman, so he stays out of the shoot.

"Camera's on in three….two…" the cameraman mouths the word "one" as I hear the click of the equipment turning on.

"I'm Vatilla Bloom, in District 12, here to interview the family and friends of one of our final eight tributes, Katniss Everdeen!" the reporter says with a tight, cheesy smile. "I'm here with Gale Hawthorne!"

It's weird hearing somebody from the Capitol speak my name. It gives me chills. I don't want them to know who I am.

"Now Gale, will you tell us, how do you know Katniss Everdeen?" Vatilla Bloom asks me.

The muscular man catches my eye.

"We're cousins." I say.

I look up at the man who nods to me.

"Oh, and you both look so much alike!" Vatilla exclaims.

Fortunately for the Capitol Katniss and I do look a lot alike, so this whole cousin thing works out well.

"Now, are you and Katniss close?" the reporter asks.

My eyes wander up to the man behind the camera for an answer. He doesn't give me any hints.

"I'd say yes." I say nonchalantly.

"Well that's nice." Vatilla Bloom says. "What do you do for work, Gale?"

_I hunt, _is the answer that comes to my mind, but never in a million years would I say that to someone from the Capitol.

"I'm a student." I say. "But I will work in the mines when I'm old enough."

"Interesting." Vatilla says.

It's not interesting. The majority of people in District 12, the Seam especially, work in the coal mines.

"And what would you do in there?" the reporter asks me.

How stupid can you be?

"I would mine coal." I reply.

Vatilla Bloom looks back at the camera. "All of the Capitol's coal supplies come from right here in District 12, isn't that cool?"

I don't even force a smile. It's not cool. It's not cool at all. Coal miners work here twelve hours a day, six days a week just so the Capitol can waste their precious coal. We don't even get paid enough to feed our starving families. We all waste away from hunger, exhaustion, and even terrible mine accidents. Like the one that took my father. That was in no way at all, cool.

"Gale, do you have siblings?" the Vatilla Bloom wonders aloud.

"Yes." I reply.

The reporter purses her lips. I think she was expecting more of an answer.

"How many?"

"Three." I say.

I watch as the camera turns to the kitchen table, where my family is sitting. I feel my eyes grow wider and my heart beat faster. The camera better get away from them. I shoot the cameraman a warning glare but I don't think he sees me. Soon enough, the camera turns its attention back to us.

"Do you have a father?" is the next question that comes at me.

It hits me like a spear through the chest. They got me. This is where all my emotion should pour out through the rupture in my sternum. I won't give it to them. I can't give it to them. For my dad.

"He died in a mining accident." I say after swallowing the lump in my throat.

"Oh, that's a shame." the reporter says, twisting her face into a frown. "Wasn't that the same fate of Katniss's father?"

I nod, pretending it's a nonchalant nod, not a nod because I can't say anything. I always get caught up in picturing how it all went down, even though I don't want to. A deafening boom, and then rocks flying everywhere, taking people out left and right, but you can't see or breathe because of all the dust, smoke and ashes. Then, finally, maybe he hits the ground too hard, maybe a piece of debris hits him or maybe he suffocates. No matter how it happened, it was over.

"Were you surprised when Katniss was chosen for female District 12 tribute?" Vatilla Bloom asks me, changing topics.

I'm not ready for the question. I pause a moment, trying to gather my mind together and figure out what the question was.

"Yes." I say when I come back to earth. Then before I know it I'm reliving those horrible moments in my head. I'm standing in the square, watching as the slips of paper fly around in the reaping ball. Effie Trinket draws the name. It's Prim. I feel again the shock and sadness before I realize that it's Katniss who's really going to be sent off to death. Katniss. My best friend.

"Are you surprised now that Katniss Everdeen has made it into the final eight living tributes?" asks Vatilla Bloom.

"No." I say.

"Do you think Katniss can win this competition?"

"Yes." I say. I know she can.

"Why do you think that?"

I pause again, not for dramatic effect, just because half the reasons I think Katniss can win, I won't be able to say on television. I chose something simple.

"She's a survivor." I say.

Vatilla Bloom nods, knowing there's probably nothing more she can extract out of me. "Well, that's all the time we have!" she says, and the camera clicks off. "Thank you for your time, Gale." Vatilla says. She doesn't make the same mistake about trying to shake my hand twice.

The three of the Capitol people turn and leave my house, which I never wanted them to set foot in. To set eye on. The brawny man bends his neck around and I feel his eyes burning into my back as I step inside the house.

"How was it?" my mother asks quietly. Our house is small, so she could probably hear most of the interview.

"Fine." I say. "At least they're gone now."

My mother opens her mouth to speak, but Vick speaks first.

"Gale! She's about to destroy the Careers' food!" he yells, motioning vigorously to the television.

I don't know what he's talking about, but I know it's something to do with Katniss. I abandon my conversation at the table for my usual spot in front of the television.

Katniss has a bow and arrow. She fires it and the camera follows the arrow to a bag of apples that has one arrow in it already. There's a hole in the bag of apples, which is hanging by a rope.

I piece together where this is. This is at the lake, where the Careers make camp. So Katniss is trying to destroy their food. Interesting. But shooting arrows in their apples is not really destroying the food. So that's just a waste of time and arrows, and it's a huge risk. What the hell is Katniss doing? Is she crazy? My heart sinks. Maybe the hallucinations did this to her. Maybe no matter what, she'll just be crazy for the rest of her life. Is that being worse than dead? I don't know.

Then, the third arrow goes sailing into the rope that hangs the apples, severing it cleanly, and the whole bag tumbles to the ground. Boom.


End file.
